Social Goals and Individual Incentives to Promote Walking in Older Adults

March 4, 2014 updated by: University of Pennsylvania

Social Goals and Individual Incentives to Promote Walking in Older Adults (Way to Walk II)

The goal of this randomized and controlled trial is to test whether a financial incentive of a donation to achieve a social goal is more effective to motivate and sustain a daily walking habit than the same dollar value given to an older adult. The investigators will achieve this using a novel computer platform utilizing a digital pedometer-internet interface.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

94

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
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • University of Pennsylvania

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

65 years and older (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adult 65 years of age and older
  • Can read and speak English
  • Access to a personal computer with high-speed internet connection and functional Universal Serial Bus (USB) port for the study duration
  • Able to walk 1/4 mile (i.e., 2 to 3 blocks) without stopping
  • No pedometer use in last 30 days

Exclusion Criteria:

Major medical conditions including:

  • serious heart and lung diseases
  • diabetes requiring insulin therapy
  • severe arthritis
  • neurologic disorders
  • dementia
  • heavy alcohol use
  • recent knee or spinal surgery

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control Arm

Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week.

Subjects in the Control Group will only receive pedometers and weekly feedback on their performance through the same mechanisms and with the same frequency as participants in the other three study arms. There will be no financial incentives or charity donations in this group.
Behavioral: daily pedometer use and weekly feedback
Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week.
Experimental: Personal Financial Incentives Arm
Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Each week, if pedometer is used and walking goal is met for 5 out of 7 days, participant will receive $20. Financial incentive is terminated after 4 months. Daily use of pedometer continues for an additional 4 weeks.
Behavioral: daily pedometer use and weekly feedback
Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week.
Behavioral: Financial incentive
Participants will receive a direct financial incentive in the amount of $20 for each week when their daily pedometer step count equals or exceeds their goal at least 5 out of 7 days.
Experimental: Social Goals Arm
Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Each week participants will be asked to designate which charity should receive a donation if they meet or exceed their goal. If they meet the goal, they will be notified that a donation of $20 in their name has been sent to the charity. Charity donation is terminated after 4 months. Daily use of pedometer continues for an additional 4 weeks.
Behavioral: daily pedometer use and weekly feedback
Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week.
Behavioral: Social Goal
Participants will be asked to identify a charity to which they would like to donate the payment for reaching their walking goal. Each week they will be asked to designate which charity should receive a donation if they meet or exceed their goal. If they meet the goal, they will be notified that a donation of $20 in their name has been sent to the charity.
Experimental: Combined Financial Incentives & Social Goals Arm
Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week. Each week, the participant will be asked to choose whether to keep, give, or split the reward, if they meet or exceed their goal. If they choose to send some of the money to charity, they will be asked to identify a charity to which they would like to donate the payment. If they meet their goal, they will receive money and/or be notified that a donation of the selected amount has been sent to the charity, depending on their selected preference. Incentives are terminated after 4 months. Daily use of pedometer continues for an additional 4 weeks.
Behavioral: daily pedometer use and weekly feedback
Daily use of pedometer for 5 months. Walking goal set based on level of walking during 2-week run-in period. Weekly feedback provided on meeting walking goal - defined as achieving goal number of steps for 5 of 7 days per week.
Behavioral: Personal financial incentives & social goals
Participants will be able to allocate their reward for reaching their walking goal: the $20 reward can be divided between personal financial incentive and a charitable donation. Each week, the participant will be asked to choose whether to keep, give, or split the reward, if they meet or exceed their goal. If they choose to send some of the money to charity, they will be asked to identify a charity to which they would like to donate the payment. If they meet their goal, they will be notified by email or mail (based on their preference), that a donation of the selected amount has been sent to the charity.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
mean proportion of days that step per day goals were attained
Time Frame: 16 weeks
16 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
mean number of steps per day
Time Frame: 16 weeks
16 weeks
mean proportion of days that step per day goals were attained during follow-up
Time Frame: 4 weeks
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Collaborators

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH, University of Pennsylvania
  • Principal Investigator: Jason Karlawish, MD, University of Pennsylvania

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

August 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 16, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 17, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

July 18, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 5, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 4, 2014

Last Verified

February 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 69924

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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