A Test of Different Incentives and How Effectively They Motivate Walking Behaviour

NCT06395233 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 18-IHIREC
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 300
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

This study aims to test the effectiveness of different types of incentives to motivate walking among people who use a tracker app. App users will be randomly allocated to three groups, Group 1 will received assured incentives in the form of points per minute of walking, Group 2 will received non-assured incentives in the form of prize draw tickets, one ticket per minute of walking and Group 3 will receive a combination of the two. App-users will be invited to join the study and those who consent to joining will track their walking activity for 12 weeks using the BetterPoints app. Participants will also be asked to complete a survey at the start and end of the study period to assess motivation and responsiveness to reward. At the end of the 12 weeks intervention period, changes in minutes of walking from the start of the study to three follow up time points will be assessed and compared between groups. Total minutes of walking will also be compared between groups. Differences in reported levels of autonomous motivation will be assessed between the start and end of the study and between groups.

Conditions

Physical Inactivity

Keywords

Incentives; Physical activity; Apps; Digital Health; Health behaviour

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in weekly minutes of walking from baseline

  Baseline minutes of walking behaviour will be compared to follow up time points for the three groups. Minutes of walking will be measured using a GPS app. Baseline will be the two weeks of walking before the start of the intervention period. Follow up dates will be at four, eight and twelve weeks after the start of the intervention period.

  12-weeks

• Differences between groups in number of weekly minutes of walking achieved

  Weekly minutes of walking will be plotted and visually inspected for differences between groups. Statistical differences in mean and median levels of walking at four, eight and twelve weeks will be tested. Proportional differences between groups in those reaching 150 minutes per week will be explored.

  12-weeks

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Perceived motivation

  12-weeks

• Reward responsiveness (RR)

  12-weeks

Study Arms (3)

Group one: Assured Incentives

EXPERIMENTAL

Group 1: Assured (Points only): Participants will be able to earn 10 points for each 10 minutes of walking. Every minute will count, the participant does not have to walk for 10 consecutive minutes to receive the points. Once a person has accumulated 10 minutes of walking exercise, their points will be awarded. This will be capped at 40 points per day, i.e. the participant can earn 10 BetterPoints up to four times a day by doing 40 minutes of walking.

Device: BetterPoints App

Group 2: Non Assured Incentives

EXPERIMENTAL

Group 2: Non-Assured (Lottery tickets only): Participants will be able to earn one lottery ticket for each 10 minutes of walking. This is accrued and awarded in the same way as the points condition. It is capped at four tickets per day.

Device: BetterPoints App

Group 3: Combined

EXPERIMENTAL

Group 3: Combined (Combined points/tickets): Participants in group 3 will be able to earn 5 points and one lottery ticket for 10 minutes of walking. The daily lottery in this condition will be for 500 BetterPoints (rather than 1000 BetterPoints in group 2) and therefore each ticket will have an expected value (EV) of 5 BetterPoints. Participants will be able to earn points and tickets in this way for up to 40 minutes of walking per day.

Device: BetterPoints App

Interventions

BetterPoints App DEVICE

The BetterPoints app is a smartphone application that uses incentives and gamification to motivate physical activity.

Group 2: Non Assured Incentives; Group 3: Combined; Group one: Assured Incentives

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Existing users of the BetterPoints app. Not in sponsored programmes.

You may not qualify if:

• BetterPoints app users who are under 18. BetterPoints app users who are enrolled in programmes sponsored by local authorities.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University College, London: lead

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sedentary Behavior; Motor Activity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Hannah McCarthy, MA

  University College, London

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Hannah McCarthy, MA

CONTACT

07487680514; hannah.mccarthy.16@ucl.ac.uk

Abigail Fisher, PhD

CONTACT

020 7679 1722; abigail.fisher@ucl.ac.uk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
• Masking Details: Participants will be randomly allocated to their group and will not be aware of the incentives received by the other groups. Randomisation will be done by team setting up the study in the BetterPoints system and the principle investigator will only receive anonymised data and be blind to who has been allocated to each group.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Three group randomised trial with no control

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 24, 2024
• First Posted: May 2, 2024
• Study Start: April 29, 2024
• Primary Completion: July 29, 2024
• Study Completion: July 29, 2024
• Last Updated: May 2, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share