STEP Together: An Effectiveness-Implementation Study of Social Incentives and Physical Activity
NCT ID: NCT04942535
Last Updated: 2025-11-06
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.
COMPLETED
NA
779 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2021-09-21
2025-10-11
Brief Summary
Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.
Detailed Description
Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.
Conditions
See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.
Keywords
Explore important study keywords that can help with search, categorization, and topic discovery.
Study Design
Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.
RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
PREVENTION
SINGLE
Study Groups
Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.
Social Incentive Gamification
Each participant is enrolled as part of a family team. Each participant wears a Fitbit every day and strives to achieve their daily step goal.
Participants in this arm receive the Social Incentive Gamification intervention during the 12 month intervention and Daily Performance Feedback during the 6 month follow up.
Daily Performance Feedback
Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count.
Participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
Social Incentive Gamification
Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count.
Each participant signs a pre-commitment contract. Participants are entered into a game with their family members. Each family receives 70 points weekly. Each day, a family member is selected at random to represent the family. If that person's step goal was achieved, the family keeps its points; if not, they lose 10 points. The participant is notified the following day if they were the family rep.
At the end of the week, if the family has 40 points or more, they advance 1 level. If they have less than 40 points, the family drops down 1 level. Each family team starts in the middle of 5 levels.
At the end of the intervention, families in the top 2 levels receive a small gift.
In the 6 month follow-up, participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
Social Goals through Incentives to Charity
Each participant is enrolled as part of a family team. Each participant wears a Fitbit every day and strives to achieve their daily step goal.
Participants in this arm receive the Social Goals through Incentives to Charity intervention during the 12 month intervention and Daily Performance Feedback during the 6 month follow up.
Daily Performance Feedback
Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count.
Participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
Social Goals through Incentives to Charity
Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count.
Families select a charity at the beginning of the intervention. They are informed that $20 is available each week to be donated to a charity of their choice. Each day, a family member is selected at random to represent the family. If that person's step goal was achieved, the family gets credit for meeting their goal; if not, the entire family does not get credit. The participant is notified the following day if they were the family rep.
If the family achieves their goal on at least 4 of 7 days in a week, $20 is donated to charity.
In the 6 month follow-up, participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
Control
Each participant is enrolled as part of a family team. Each participant wears a Fitbit every day and strives to achieve their daily step goal.
Participants in this arm receive Daily Performance Feedback during the 12 month intervention and 6 month follow up.
Daily Performance Feedback
Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count.
Participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
Interventions
Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.
Daily Performance Feedback
Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count.
Participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
Social Goals through Incentives to Charity
Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count.
Families select a charity at the beginning of the intervention. They are informed that $20 is available each week to be donated to a charity of their choice. Each day, a family member is selected at random to represent the family. If that person's step goal was achieved, the family gets credit for meeting their goal; if not, the entire family does not get credit. The participant is notified the following day if they were the family rep.
If the family achieves their goal on at least 4 of 7 days in a week, $20 is donated to charity.
In the 6 month follow-up, participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
Social Incentive Gamification
Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count.
Each participant signs a pre-commitment contract. Participants are entered into a game with their family members. Each family receives 70 points weekly. Each day, a family member is selected at random to represent the family. If that person's step goal was achieved, the family keeps its points; if not, they lose 10 points. The participant is notified the following day if they were the family rep.
At the end of the week, if the family has 40 points or more, they advance 1 level. If they have less than 40 points, the family drops down 1 level. Each family team starts in the middle of 5 levels.
At the end of the intervention, families in the top 2 levels receive a small gift.
In the 6 month follow-up, participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
Eligibility Criteria
Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.
Inclusion Criteria
* Has a smartphone or tablet;
* Lives in the Philadelphia area;
* Age 14 or older;
* Able to provide informed consent;
* Enrolled as a member of a 2 to 10 member family team with least one member 60 years or older.
Exclusion Criteria
* An 18-month physical activity program is infeasible (e.g., metastatic cancer, unable to ambulate or provide informed consent) or unsafe (currently pregnant or told by a physician not to exercise);
* Do not have sufficient eyesight or dexterity to operate device;
* Average step count greater than 7,500 steps/day during the run-in period.
14 Years
ALL
Yes
Sponsors
Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
NIH
Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine
OTHER
Responsible Party
Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.
Principal Investigators
Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.
Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
University of Pennsylvania
Locations
Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Countries
Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.
References
Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.
Scheffey K, Aronson J, Goncalves Y, Greysen SR, Iwu A, Kwong PL, Nezir F, Small D, Glanz K. Design and baseline characteristics of an implementation study to increase activity with social incentives: The STEP together trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2025 Jun;153:107909. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.107909. Epub 2025 Apr 10.
Other Identifiers
Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.
842677
Identifier Type: OTHER
Identifier Source: secondary_id
02022
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id