Social Goals and Individual Incentives to Promote Walking in Older Adults

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Physical Activity
• Interventions: Behavioral: daily pedometer use and weekly feedback; Behavioral: Financial incentive; Behavioral: Social Goal; Behavioral: Personal financial incentives & social goals

• Registration Number: NCT01643538
• Lead Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania

Brief Summary

The goal of this randomized and controlled trial is to test whether a financial incentive of a donation to achieve a social goal is more effective to motivate and sustain a daily walking habit than the same dollar value given to an older adult. The investigators will achieve this using a novel computer platform utilizing a digital pedometer-internet interface.

Detailed Description

Not available

Basic Information
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Recruitment & Eligibility
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Study & Design
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Trial Locations

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2012-07-16
• Study First Submitted QC: 2012-07-17
• Study First Posted: 2012-07-18
• Study Start: 2012-08
• Primary Completion: 2013-07
• Study Completion: 2013-09
• Status Verified: 2014-02
• Last Update Submitted: 2014-03-04
• Last Update Posted: 2014-03-05

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 94

Inclusion Criteria

• Adult 65 years of age and older
• Can read and speak English
• Access to a personal computer with high-speed internet connection and functional Universal Serial Bus (USB) port for the study duration
• Able to walk 1/4 mile (i.e., 2 to 3 blocks) without stopping
• No pedometer use in last 30 days

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Exclusion Criteria

Major medical conditions including:

• serious heart and lung diseases
• diabetes requiring insulin therapy
• severe arthritis
• neurologic disorders
• dementia
• heavy alcohol use
• recent knee or spinal surgery

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Control Arm	daily pedometer use and weekly feedback	Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Subjects in the Control Group will only receive pedometers and weekly feedback on their performance through the same mechanisms and with the same frequency as participants in the other three study arms. There will be no financial incentives or charity donations in this group.
Personal Financial Incentives Arm	Financial incentive	Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Each week, if pedometer is used and walking goal is met for 5 out of 7 days, participant will receive $20. Financial incentive is terminated after 4 months. Daily use of pedometer continues for an additional 4 weeks.
Social Goals Arm	Social Goal	Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Each week participants will be asked to designate which charity should receive a donation if they meet or exceed their goal. If they meet the goal, they will be notified that a donation of $20 in their name has been sent to the charity. Charity donation is terminated after 4 months. Daily use of pedometer continues for an additional 4 weeks.
Social Goals Arm	daily pedometer use and weekly feedback	Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Each week participants will be asked to designate which charity should receive a donation if they meet or exceed their goal. If they meet the goal, they will be notified that a donation of $20 in their name has been sent to the charity. Charity donation is terminated after 4 months. Daily use of pedometer continues for an additional 4 weeks.
Combined Financial Incentives & Social Goals Arm	Personal financial incentives & social goals	Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Each week, the participant will be asked to choose whether to keep, give, or split the reward, if they meet or exceed their goal. If they choose to send some of the money to charity, they will be asked to identify a charity to which they would like to donate the payment. If they meet their goal, they will receive money and/or be notified that a donation of the selected amount has been sent to the charity, depending on their selected preference. Incentives are terminated after 4 months. Daily use of pedometer continues for an additional 4 weeks.
Personal Financial Incentives Arm	daily pedometer use and weekly feedback	Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Each week, if pedometer is used and walking goal is met for 5 out of 7 days, participant will receive $20. Financial incentive is terminated after 4 months. Daily use of pedometer continues for an additional 4 weeks.
Combined Financial Incentives & Social Goals Arm	daily pedometer use and weekly feedback	Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Each week, the participant will be asked to choose whether to keep, give, or split the reward, if they meet or exceed their goal. If they choose to send some of the money to charity, they will be asked to identify a charity to which they would like to donate the payment. If they meet their goal, they will receive money and/or be notified that a donation of the selected amount has been sent to the charity, depending on their selected preference. Incentives are terminated after 4 months. Daily use of pedometer continues for an additional 4 weeks.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
mean proportion of days that step per day goals were attained	16 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
mean number of steps per day	16 weeks
mean proportion of days that step per day goals were attained during follow-up	4 weeks

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Pennsylvania; 🇺🇸 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States