Substance Use and Fitness

Substance Use and Fitness: A Pilot Study of Contingency Management in Older Adults

The purpose of this pilot study is to estimate the effect size of a contingency management procedure that reinforces walking at rates consistent with the American College of Sports Medicine recommendations of 10,000 or more steps per day in older adults. We expect that participants randomized to the contingency management intervention will increase walking to a greater degree than those assigned to a standard care condition.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Exercise; Substance Abuse
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: contingency management

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 45
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • Farmington, Connecticut, United States, 06030
      • University of Connecticut Health Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 55 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• age 55 - 75 years
• currently not physically active
• willing and physically able as determined by physician approval to walk 10,000 steps per day
• blood pressure of 120-159 mmHg systolic or 80-99 mmHg diastolic
• willing to meet with research staff weekly for 12 weeks

Exclusion Criteria:

• psychiatric or physical illness that could interfere with participation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: walking recommendations; Participants assigned to this condition will be instructed to wear a pedometer daily and scheduled for weekly meetings over for the next 12 weeks. Each week, they will be congratulated if they walked the target goal on any days, and encouraged to meet the goals for the upcoming week. However, they will not receive any tangible reinforcement for walking. The meetings will be brief (about 15 minutes) and will include discussions and handouts related to the health benefits of walking.
Experimental: contingency management for walking; Participants assigned to this condition will be asked to wear a pedometer daily and scheduled for weekly meetings over for the next 12 weeks. The meeting duration and structure will be similar to that in the standard treatment condition including the handouts, with one exception. Participants in this condition will earn tangible reinforcement in the form of prizes for walking the target number of steps per day.	Behavioral: contingency management; Participants assigned to the experimental group will earn chances to win prizes if they have walked the recommended number of steps.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
number of days on which participants walked the recommended number of steps	Weeks 1-12

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: UConn Health
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Nancy M Petry, Ph.D., University of Conncecticut Health Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 25, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 28, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): March 1, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 9, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 5, 2019
• Last Verified: April 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 11-040-2; P30DA023918 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)