Structuring Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Weight Loss; Physical Activity

• Registration Number: NCT03305172
• Lead Sponsor: National University of Singapore

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of different structures of long term financial incentives on increasing physical activity performed by subjects, as measured by the number of steps walked per day.

Investigators are interested in studying whether physical activity increases during an intervention period (with incentives) and a post-intervention period (with no incentives).

Detailed Description

The proposed study is a field experiment. Adults within the ages of 25 and 60 years of age, and with a body mass index of 22 or higher will be eligible to participate.

The study will consist of (1) a two-week baseline period, (2) a 36-week intervention period, and (3) a 12-week follow-up period.

At the beginning of the study, subjects will be given a wearable fitness device and their daily step count will be monitored for two weeks; this is the baseline period. After the two-week baseline period, the subjects will be randomly assigned to one of the five different conditions (Control, Gain, Loss, Gain Streak, or Loss Streak) and will be given the goal to increase their baseline step counts by 2,500 steps.

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HYPOTHESES -- Investigators expect the following:

1. Loss Aversion: Subjects in the Loss treatment will achieve the goal on a greater number of days than subjects in the Gain treatment.

2. Streak: Subjects in the Gain treatment will achieve the goal on a greater number of days than subjects in the Gain Streak treatment.

3. Loss Streak: Subjects in the Loss treatment will achieve the goal on a greater number of days than subjects in the Loss Streak treatment. Whether subjects in the Loss Streak treatment will perform better or worse than subjects in the other two treatments will be investigated.

CONTRIBUTION -- Prior research has not examined the effect of a long term financial incentive (36 weeks) on individual behavior in achieving a goal. In this study, the investigators also examine two additional financial incentive structures: Gain Streak and Loss Streak. If the hypotheses are correct, the results have important implications for designing financial incentives to encourage good behavior and to encourage good habit formation across domains.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2017-09-26
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-10-03
• Study Start: 2017-10-09
• Study First Posted: 2017-10-09
• Primary Completion: 2019-01-17
• Study Completion: 2019-01-30
• Status Verified: 2019-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2019-10-02
• Last Update Posted: 2019-10-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 620

Inclusion Criteria

• Singapore citizens and permanent residents
• Adults with BMI greater than 22
• Ownership of a smartphone or tablet
• Only one member per household can participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria

• Women who are pregnant or breast feeding, or who intend to become pregnant over next year

• Subjects who are already participating in another physical activity program or study

• Subjects who are unable to participate for a total of 1 year

• Subjects who are unwilling to wear the fitness device

• Subjects who already walk more than 10,000 steps a day (self-reported per-day-average over seven days)

• Subjects who have any of the following health conditions:

  • high blood pressure
  • high cholesterol
  • heart attack
  • heart failure
  • stroke
  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • kidney disease
  • diabetes (type 2)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Step count goal -- Intervention	36-week intervention period following the baseline period.	Proportion of participant-days on which the goal (baseline +2,500 steps) was achieved during the intervention period.
Change in mean daily steps -- Intervention	36-week intervention period following the baseline period.	Change in mean daily steps during the intervention period.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Weight (in kilograms) Loss -- Post-intervention	48-week period following the baseline period.	Drop in weight from baseline to the end of the post-intervention period.
Weight (in kilograms) Loss -- Intervention	36-week intervention period following the baseline period.	Drop in weight from baseline to the end of the intervention period.
Step count goal -- Post-intervention	12-week post-intervention period.	Proportion of participant-days on which the goal (baseline +2,500 steps) was achieved during the post-intervention period.
Sleep Pattern -- Intervention	36-week intervention period following the baseline period.	Changes in sleep pattern (deep sleep, hours of continuous sleep) during the intervention period.
Change in mean daily steps -- Post-intervention	12-week post-intervention period.	Change in mean daily steps during the post-intervention period.
Sleep Pattern -- Post-intervention	12-week post-intervention period.	Changes in sleep pattern (deep sleep, hours of continuous sleep) during the post-intervention period.
Change in Waist Measurement (in inches) -- Intervention	36-week intervention period following the baseline period	Change in waist measurements from baseline to the end of the intervention period.
Change in Waist Measurement (in inches) -- Post-intervention	48-week period following the baseline period.	Change in waist measurements from baseline to the end of the post-intervention period.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

National University of Singapore; 🇸🇬 Singapore, Singapore