Project Step: Evaluating Deposit Contracts and Daily Feedback to Promote Walking in Overweight and Obese Adults

NCT ID: NCT03566277

Last Updated: 2018-06-25

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 24 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2016-12-01
• Study Completion Date: 2017-08-08

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to test whether deposit contracts, wherein individuals invest their own money with the study to serve as the incentive, with or without daily feedback about progress help individuals to increase step counts and more often meet a step goal compared to self-monitoring only.

Detailed Description

Approximately 68% of adults are overweight or obese, which is associated with increased risk for health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. These individuals are more often sedentary than the general population, which compounds the risk for these same conditions. While the benefits of engaging in physical activity are well-established, few individuals are able to successfully increase activity to recommended levels. Existing intervention programs, often derived from theories such as social cognitive theory or related theories, have had limited success. Behavioral economics offers a promising alternative, suggesting that engagement in any behavior is based on the maximizing utility and happiness. Interventions based on this theory aim to increase the immediate benefit of engaging in physical activity, often using a financial incentive.

This study will last for 16 weeks. Each participant will invest $42 with the study, and be exposed to to each of three interventions. All participants will have the use of a FitBit for ongoing self-monitoring and a step-count goal of 10,000 steps per day. In one condition, these will be the only interventions you receive. In one condition, you will receive a monetary consequence for meeting or not meeting the goal. Each day during the incentive conditions, you will be eligible to lose $0.75 of your own money for not meeting the goal, or to earn back $0.75 of your money plus $0.75 from the study (i.e., a total of $1.50) for meeting the goal. In the third condition, you will have daily feedback mid-afternoon about your distance from the goal and the money you stand to gain or lose. You will be made aware of what condition you are in.

Conditions

Physical Activity; Sedentary Lifestyle; Obesity; Overweight

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Single-arm trial

All participants will undergo each of three conditions during the study.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Self-monitoring

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will have access to a wrist-worn activity monitor and have a daily step goal

Incentives

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will have a deposit contract, wherein they will lose money if a goal is not reached, or double their money if a goal is reached

Feedback

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive text message feedback each day about progress towards their goal

Interventions

Self-monitoring

Participants will have access to a wrist-worn activity monitor and have a daily step goal

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Incentives

Participants will have a deposit contract, wherein they will lose money if a goal is not reached, or double their money if a goal is reached

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Feedback

Participants will receive text message feedback each day about progress towards their goal

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 25 kg/m2 ≤ BMI ≤ 45 kg/m2
• Age 18-70
• Currently inactive (engages in less than 6,000 steps/day on at least 4 of 7 days per week, confirmed by FitBit at baseline)
• Able to engage in moderate amount of walking
• Able to receive email/text messages from study staff

Exclusion Criteria

• medical or psychiatric conditions that would make it difficult to comply with study protocols

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 70 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Psi Chi

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Qualtrics

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

American College of Sports Medicine

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Drexel University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Stephanie Kerrigan

Doctoral Candidate

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

References

Kerrigan SG, Forman EM, Patel M, Williams D, Zhang F, Crosby RD, Butryn ML. Evaluating the Feasibility, Acceptability, and Effects of Deposit Contracts With and Without Daily Feedback to Promote Physical Activity. J Phys Act Health. 2020 Jan 1;17(1):29-36. doi: 10.1123/jpah.2018-0589.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 31698334 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

1601004185-1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id