- ICH GCP
- US Clinical Trials Registry
- Clinical Trial NCT00805259
Promoting Mental Acuity in Elderly Populations Through Incentive for Technology Use
Study Overview
Status
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
The proposed study, a 4-arm randomized control trial, tests three novel incentive systems intended to promote the daily use of computer programs designed to improve memory and mental acuity among residents of retirement communities. Three outcome measures will be used to assess the effectiveness of the incentive programs: number of activities completed using the software (primary outcome of interest), performance on the activities, and differences between pre and post measures of mental acuity (using a standardized test of mental functions). Incentives to use the software will be offered to individuals in the experimental conditions for the first month of the 4 month study. After the initial month of incentives, all individuals will have continued access to the software, however, no incentives will be provided for use.
Incentives: Three incentive structures will be tested against one control group:
- Control: Access to software programs, but no rewards for use.
- Atomistic: Each individual is rewarded for his or her individual participation
- Altruistic: Participants will be paired with an individual at a different retirement community and will be rewarded according to the other individual's participation
- Combination cooperative/competitive: Individuals will be paired in teams which will compete against each other. Each team will be rewarded according to relative participation, but members within a team will receive the same amount.
Pairs will be matched on gender, age, and education, and then pairs will be randomly assigned to the different incentive conditions. Rewards in all incentive conditions will range to a maximum of $5 per day, and will be awarded differently depending on the incentive condition. Although participants will be informed of their winnings each day (to give frequent positive reinforcement), they will be paid cumulated amounts once a month (to reduce transactions costs and to ensure that actual payments are substantial). The number of activities completed using the software (up to 10 daily, or approximately 30 minutes of use) will be the basis for daily incentive payments to reward effort and avoid discouraging those who are not highly skilled. Cognitive testing will be done with the NueroTrax Mindstreams cognitive testing software.
Subjects: Roughly 400 participants will be recruited from local retirement communities which offer computing services to their residents. Subjects will be between the ages of 55 and 85 and will be required to sign informed consent forms before they are admitted to the study. Due to our focus on a population facing cognitive declines, extra care will be taken to ensure that all participants understand the information provided in the informed consent document. We will not enroll potential participants who are not able to verbalize understanding of the contents of the consent form. Participants will be trained in basic computer use and operation of the software using the Carnegie Mellon University mobile research van (see http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2007/June/june20_datatruck.shtml).
This pilot study will serve as the basis for a larger-scale study of financial incentives for elderly individuals to engage in mentally challenging tasks that help them improve cognitive function. In addition, this research will help us determine the relative effectiveness of different types of incentive designs that could be used in further studies of the use of financial incentives to encourage the elderly to engage in a variety of other healthy behaviors.
Study Type
Enrollment (Actual)
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
Study Locations
-
-
Pennsylvania
-
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- Retirement communities near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
-
-
Participation Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Genders Eligible for Study
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age between 55 and 85
- Resident in participating retirement community
Exclusion Criteria:
- Unstable medical conditions that would likely prevent the subject from completing the study
- Severe depression
- Inability to read or severe cognitive deficits that would preclude ability to read consent form or fill out surveys
Study Plan
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
- Allocation: RANDOMIZED
- Interventional Model: PARALLEL
- Masking: NONE
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
---|---|
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: 1. Atomistic
payment for own work
|
Financial incentives based on use of software designed to promote cognitive function
|
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: 2. Altruistic
payment for partner's work
|
Financial incentives based on use of software designed to promote cognitive function
|
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: 3. Team-based
payment for relative performance of combined effort of each team
|
Financial incentives based on use of software designed to promote cognitive function
|
NO_INTERVENTION: 4. Control
access to software but no financial incentives
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Time Frame |
---|---|
Daily activities completed
Time Frame: 4 months
|
4 months
|
Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Time Frame |
---|---|
Performance on completed activities
Time Frame: 4 months
|
4 months
|
Collaborators and Investigators
Sponsor
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: George Loewenstein, PhD., Carngie Mellon University
- Principal Investigator: Kevin Volpp, MD PhD, Univeristy of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bereans Administration Medical Center
- Principal Investigator: Heather Schofield, Harvard University
Study record dates
Study Major Dates
Study Start
Primary Completion (ACTUAL)
Study Completion (ACTUAL)
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
First Posted (ESTIMATE)
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
Last Verified
More Information
Terms related to this study
Keywords
Other Study ID Numbers
- CMU HS08-605
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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