Delays to Influence Snack Choice (DISC)

January 25, 2018 updated by: Brad Appelhans, Rush University Medical Center

Time Over Money? A Novel System to Influence Snack Machine Choices

The pervasiveness of high-calorie, nutrient-poor snacks in the environment is believed to have contributed to the epidemic levels of obesity and cardiometabolic disease in the U.S. This project tests whether a novel snack vending machine system that uses brief time delays to reduce the immediacy of reward from unhealthy snacks will improve the healthfulness of snack choices. If successful, this project will identify a new environmental intervention that could contribute substantially to obesity and cardiometabolic disease prevention efforts in schools, worksites, and other settings.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Environmental interventions that address the high availability of unhealthy snacks in the environment are needed to prevent a large projected increase in the incidence of obesity and cardiometabolic disease in the U.S. Prior studies from the investigators group and others suggests that the human preference for immediate gratification from food drives dietary overconsumption, but this knowledge has not yet translated to more effective dietary intervention strategies. This project tests whether a novel snack vending machine system that uses brief time delays to reduce the immediacy of reward from unhealthy snacks will improve the healthfulness of snack choices. This study uses an experimental design to compare brief time delays, two forms of 25% differential pricing, and time delays combined with both forms of 25% differential pricing on their ability to increase purchasing of healthy snacks. Test machines will be placed in existing, high-volume vending locations, and each of these five experimental conditions will run for roughly four weeks. Additionally, baseline purchasing under no intervention will be monitored for four weeks before and four weeks after the five experimental conditions. Specific Aim 2 compares the effects of these five interventions against baseline on the proportion of total vending sales from healthy snacks. Specific Aim 3 tests whether time delays or differential pricing harm overall vending machine sales in the test machines. This study not only tests a compelling theory about the effects of time delays and immediate reward on food choice, but evaluates the efficacy and feasibility of a novel intervention to improve the healthfulness of snack choices in worksites, schools, and other settings.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
32662

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60612
        • Rush University Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

This is an environmental intervention. No subjects will be recruited or enrolled.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Not applicable

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not applicable

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
A
Snacks sold under equal pricing, no delays
B
Healthier snacks sold at 25% or $0.25 discount, no delays
Other: 25%/$0.25 discount on healthy snacks
C
Less healthy snacks sold at equal pricing with delays
Other: Time delays on delivery of less healthy snacks
D
Healthy snacks sold at 25% or $0.25 discount, plus delays on less healthy snacks
Other: 25%/$0.25 discount on healthy snacks
Other: Time delays on delivery of less healthy snacks
E
Less healthy snacks sold at 25% or $0.25 higher price, no delays
Other: 25%/$0.25 tax on less healthy snacks
F
Less healthy snacks sold at 25% or $0.25 higher price, plus delays
Other: Time delays on delivery of less healthy snacks
Other: 25%/$0.25 tax on less healthy snacks
G
Snacks sold under equal pricing, no delays

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of Healthy Snacks Purchased
Time Frame: 28 weeks per vending location
For each experimental condition, we will calculate the proportion of healthy vs unhealthy snacks sold over 4 weeks.
28 weeks per vending location

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Total Daily Vending Revenue in US$/Day
Time Frame: Number of days per condition were as follows - Baseline: 119 days, Discount only: 59 days, Delay only: 68 days, Delay + Discount: 49 days, Tax only: 73 days, Delay + Tax: 60 days
Total vending machine revenue under each condition
Number of days per condition were as follows - Baseline: 119 days, Discount only: 59 days, Delay only: 68 days, Delay + Discount: 49 days, Tax only: 73 days, Delay + Tax: 60 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Rush University Medical Center

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Bradley M Appelhans, PhD, Associate professor

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 2, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 4, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 10, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 23, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 25, 2018

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 13012802

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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