Lottery Incentives for Moving

March 15, 2012 updated by: Michael Norton, Harvard University

The purpose of the study is to learn more about effective ways to motivate people to increase their non-exercise energy expenditure exercise. This is an important research question because obesity and weight-related issues are increasingly becoming a problem in America. This project will address this research question by testing the effect of two different incentive schemes in motivating employees who are predominantly sedentary to use Walkstations at work. The Walkstations are treadmills that move at a very slow rate (maximum 2miles / hour) and are attached to a work station (i.e. with computer and telephone); they therefore are designed to increase energy spent not through heavy exercise, but through small changes in posture and movement associated with routines in daily life (called nonexercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT).

Subjects will be employees of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA). Subjects will be the control participants from the previous Walkstation study we ran with BCBSMA. All 120 control participants from this previous study will be told that they can now participate in a study that involves the Walkstations (up until now, they have not been given access to the Walkstations). These participants from the previous study will be sent an email informing them that they are eligible to participate in this new Walkstation pilot. Those who are interested in participating will then be invited to sign up for an enrollment session. There will be no incentives for participating in the initial enrollment session. For the 2 month follow-up session, participants will have a chance to win 1 of 3 prizes (1 * $100, 2 * $50) for completing the follow-up.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

212

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
        • Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • must pass ParQ

Exclusion Criteria:

  • if fail ParQ

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

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Personal incentive
If participants attain their walkstation usage goal, they are entered into bi-weekly lotteries to win money.
Behavioral: Incentive to exercise
Participants who attain their walkstation goal will be entered into a draw every two weeks. We are testing the effect of different prizes on walkstation usage.
Active Comparator: Token incentive
Participants who attain their walkstation usage goal will be entered into a bi-weekly prize to win a token reward.
Behavioral: Incentive to exercise
Participants who attain their walkstation goal will be entered into a draw every two weeks. We are testing the effect of different prizes on walkstation usage.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Walkstation usage
Time Frame: after approx 60 days
after approx 60 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Biometric measures
Time Frame: baseline and 60 days
Height, weight, blood pressure
baseline and 60 days
Questionnaire
Time Frame: baseline and 45 days
baseline and 45 days

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Harvard University

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

March 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 18, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 18, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

January 19, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 19, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 15, 2012

Last Verified

March 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Walkstation2

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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