An Incentive-based mHealth Application for Physical Activity

NCT05294692 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 120615
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 46
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This 12-week single-arm pilot study in the UK evaluated an incentive-based mobile health (mHealth) physical activity (PA) intervention using the ORBIT model. The study focused on two groups: "users," who agreed to aggregate data analysis via the Caterpillar Health app, and "participants," who consented to individualized data collection, including demographic and health information. The app, launched in Leeds and later across the UK, used step tracking and offered rewards such as movie tickets and gym passes for meeting personalized step goals. The app's design, guided by the COM-B model, incorporated behaviour change techniques such as real-time feedback, social support, and gamification to promote PA and user engagement. The study assessed the app's user uptake and effectiveness in increasing PA and engagement.

Conditions

Physical Inactivity; Healthy Eating

Keywords

mHealth; behavioural economics; financial incentives; physical inactivity; self-monitoring

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Intervention effectiveness: change in mean daily step count

  Measures how effective an intervention is by tracking the change in the average number of steps taken daily by participants before and during the intervention.

  12 weeks

• Intervention effectiveness: change in daily step goal achievement

  Examines how effective an intervention is by measuring the change in the percentage of days participants meet their daily step goals before and during the intervention.

  12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• App Uptake: number of app downloads per week

  12 weeks

• Engagement: frequency and depth of user interactions within the app

  12 weeks

Study Arms (1)

Financial Health Incentives

EXPERIMENTAL

After registration, users were instructed to (a) enable step count tracking and (b) 'carry their phone' as much as possible over a five-day baseline period. After the five-day baseline period, participants earned FIs in the form of 'points' ($0.10 USD per day) for reaching personalized daily step goals (calculated using the median step count during baseline). Points could be redeemed for movie tickets and gym passes. Daily step count goals were reassessed weekly and new step goals (past 30-day median) were introduced to each user on Sunday night over the 12-week intervention period. Users could also complete 2-4 health knowledge questionnaires or surveys per week for points (\~$0.25 USD per quiz); this served as an educational feature covering healthy eating and meeting PA guidelines (in line with the National Health Service (NHS), "Live Well" guidelines).

Behavioral: Financial Health Incentives

Interventions

Financial Health Incentives BEHAVIORAL

Caterpillar Health (Caterpillar Health Inc., Leeds, UK) is a multi-component healthy living app that includes financial incentive (points redeemable for consumer goods like movies or gym passes) and was made available to Leeds, UK residents on the Apple iTunes/App Store and Google Play app stores on August 8, 2022. The app was later made available to all of the UK as of October 3, 2022. The app uses the smartphone's in-built accelerometer and/or is integrated with Apple Health and Google Fit to promote physical activity through step tracking. To offer a variety of popular incentives, Caterpillar Health formed partnerships with two major UK based companies, Vue Cinema and Hussle (a gym network system), allowing users to redeem points for free movie and gym passes. Additionally, the company collaborated with a UK health agency (Active Leeds via Leeds City Council) to assist in the development and approval of educational health quiz content.

Financial Health Incentives

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• For iPhone users, only those with the 5S model or higher (device compatibility)
• For Android users, ony those with smartphone devices that support step counting (i.e., has an accelerometer) can be used, but they are required to download the equivalent of Health Kit (e.g., the Google Fit application)
• Over 18 years of age at the time of download

You may not qualify if:

• \. Caterpillar users who do not consent to the privacy agreement.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Western University, Canada: lead

Study Sites (1)

Caterpillar Health

Leeds, United Kingdom

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sedentary Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Marc Mitchell, PhD

  Western University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Model Details: Single group, quasi-experimental study - all Caterpillar Health app users will be subject to the intervention of utilizing financial incentives and adaptable step goals throughout the 12-week intervention

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 10, 2022
• First Posted: March 24, 2022
• Study Start: September 8, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 12, 2022
• Study Completion: December 12, 2022
• Last Updated: October 30, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GB (1)