Vitality Health Incentives for Physical Activity

A Prospective, Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing the Effectiveness of Different Types of Incentives in Increasing Physical Activity Behavior on the Vitality Health Promotion Programme

The aim of the study is to prospectively compare the effectiveness of diverse incentives on physical activity behaviour, in a cohort of newly-enrolled, adult members of the Vitality health promotion programme based in South Africa.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Obesity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Discovery Vitality base program; Behavioral: Communication; Behavioral: Charitable Incentive; Behavioral: Prize Draw Incentive; Behavioral: Direct Payment; Behavioral: Free Choice

Detailed Description

Newly enrolled adult members of the Discovery Health medical plan who have, themselves, prospectively registered for the Vitality health promotion programme will be eligible for the study, and will be invited to participate by Discovery Vitality. A final sample of 9000 adult members, who are recruited and have agreed to participate, will be randomly allocated by Discovery Vitality (with replacement) to one of six study (incentive) groups (n=1500 per group) and followed for six months.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Phase: Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• South Africa
  • Cape Town, South Africa
    • University of Cape Town
  • Johannesburg, South Africa
    • Discovery Vitality
• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
      • University of Pennsylvania
    • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
      • Carnegie Mellon University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 years of age or older
• enrolled in Vitality

Exclusion Criteria:

• under 18 years of age

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

6

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: A; These members will be offered no additional incentives	Behavioral: Discovery Vitality base program; The existing Discovery Vitality health promotion base program, which offers points for various levels of physical activity.
Experimental: B; These members will receive regular communications by Discovery Vitality.	Behavioral: Discovery Vitality base program; The existing Discovery Vitality health promotion base program, which offers points for various levels of physical activity.; Behavioral: Communication; Participants will be sent regular communications by Discovery Vitality -equivalent to the level of communications in the other incentive groups - which will provide information and tips about ways of accumulating Vitality points on the existing programme (concerning fitness-related activities, in particular).
Experimental: C; These members will nominate a charity which will benefit financially based on participants' level of physical activity.	Behavioral: Discovery Vitality base program; The existing Discovery Vitality health promotion base program, which offers points for various levels of physical activity.; Behavioral: Charitable Incentive; Members will be asked to nominate a charity, from a selection of charities, which will benefit financially (Discovery Vitality will make a direct payment to a nominated charity) based on their (member's) level of participation in points-earning physical activity. Individuals will receive one of four possible payouts, corresponding to their level of engagement, for their selected charity (amounts given below). In addition, members will be sent regular updates of activities by their nominated charities (This will be operationalised and facilitated by Vitality- and as such, no direct mailing from nominated charity will take place, to maintain confidentiality.)
Experimental: D; These members are entered into a prize draw for a monthly cash prize if they achieve physical activity targets.	Behavioral: Discovery Vitality base program; The existing Discovery Vitality health promotion base program, which offers points for various levels of physical activity.; Behavioral: Prize Draw Incentive; Members will be entered into a prize draw for a monthly cash-prize if they achieve physical activity targets. Four lottery payouts, corresponding to their levels of engagement, will be made on a monthly basis. All members will be sent information regarding the winnings of those that are drawn (unlinked to personal identifiers, but to motivate).
Experimental: E; These members will receive a direct payment.	Behavioral: Discovery Vitality base program; The existing Discovery Vitality health promotion base program, which offers points for various levels of physical activity.; Behavioral: Direct Payment; Members will receive a direct payment (in the form of gift voucher) of one of four possible amounts depending on the level of participation in fitness-related activities equivalent in expected value to the payouts in arms 3 and 4.
Experimental: F; These members will be offered the opportunity to choose one of three incentive options at the time of enrollment in the study.	Behavioral: Discovery Vitality base program; The existing Discovery Vitality health promotion base program, which offers points for various levels of physical activity.; Behavioral: Free Choice; Members will be asked to choose one of the three aforementioned incentive options on enrollment to the study.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Engagement in physical activity	Levels of engagement in fitness related activities as measured by 1) continuous measure of Vitality fitness program points accrued, and 2) frequency count or proportion of members by fitness level groups	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Fitness points earned	The standard Vitality program offers members the ability to accumulate points for physical activity behavior through various means.	6 months
Gym visits	Average number of gym visits over the six month period will be measured.	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania
• Investigators: Study Chair: Deepak Patel, MD, Discovery Holdings, LTD

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2010
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 1, 2013
• Study Completion (Actual): February 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 12, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 12, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): January 14, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): August 19, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 17, 2016
• Last Verified: August 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Obesity; exercise; Physical activity; Sedentary; incentives
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 811570