Financial Incentives for Maintenance of Weight Loss

September 26, 2018 updated by: University of Pennsylvania

A Randomized Trial of Financial Incentives for Maintenance of Weight Loss

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of financial incentives in improving and maintaining weight loss.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Study participants will be obese volunteers recruited from a major community-based weight loss program (Weight Watchers), who have lost at least 5kg during the 4-6 months prior to enrolling in the study. Among these participants, the following will be assessed: 1. The effectiveness of a daily lottery-based financial incentive, relative to the control group, on weight loss and weight maintenance; 2. The effectiveness of a direct payment incentive, relative to the control group, on maintenance of weight loss; 3. Assess the comparative effectiveness of lottery-based and direct payment financial incentives on weight loss and maintenance; 4. The degree to which weight loss is maintained in the intervention groups relative to usual care during the 6 months following cessation of the intervention will also be determined.

During Phase I, incentives will be provided to some study participants (direct payment and lottery arm) for the first 6 months and subjects will be followed for 6 more months to examine effects following cessation of incentives.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

191

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

30 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults age 30-80
  • BMI between 30 and 45 prior to starting Weight Watchers
  • Have a documented weight loss of at least 5kg in the past 4-6 months before enrolling
  • Stable health

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Substance abuse
  • Bulimia nervosa or related behaviors
  • Pregnancy or breast feeding
  • Medical contraindications to counseling about diet, physical activity, or weight reduction
  • Unstable mental illness
  • Screen positive for pathological gambling on the basis of the 10 item DSM-IV criteria (excluded if meets 5 or more criteria)
  • Individuals unable to read consent forms or fill out surveys in English

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control Arm
No other financial incentive other than for the 3-, 6-, 9-, & 12-month weigh-ins and surveys. Participants will receive daily feedback for months 1-6 and will be observed without intervention in Phase II (months 7-12). Two weigh-ins will be required during Phase II, one at 9 months and the other at 12 months.
Experimental: Direct payment

In addition to the incentives for the 3-, 6-, 9-, & 12-month weigh-ins, participants who meet their daily goal will be eligible to receive an incentive for each day their goal is met during the first 6 months of the study. All daily incentive earnings will be paid out after verifying participants' weights during an in person weigh in at a Weight Watchers location at months 3 and 6. Winnings will be proportional to weight loss. For example, if a participant's goal was to lose 6 pounds by month 3, but he/she only lost 3 pounds, that participant would only receive 50% of their total eligible winnings.

Similar to the control arm, participants will receive daily feedback for months 1-6 and will be observed without intervention in Phase II (months 7-12). The weigh-ins at 9- and 12-months will also be required.
Behavioral: Financial incentive
Participants in the direct payment and lottery arms will receive financial incentives as part of the intervention. See arm descriptions for more detail.
Experimental: Lottery

In addition to the incentives for the 3-, 6-, 9-, & 12-month weigh-ins, participants who meet their daily goal will be eligible for the daily lottery during the first 6 months of the study. The expected daily winning for the lottery is the same as for the direct payment arm. All daily incentive earnings will be paid out after verifying participants' weights during an in person weigh in at a Weight Watchers location at months 3 and 6. Winnings will be proportional to weight loss. For example, if a participant's goal was to lose 6 pounds by month 3, but he/she only lost 3 pounds, that participant would only receive 50% of their total eligible winnings.

Similar to the control arm, participants will receive daily feedback for months 1-6 and will be observed without intervention in Phase II (months 7-12). The weigh-ins at 9- and 12-months will also be required.
Behavioral: Financial incentive
Participants in the direct payment and lottery arms will receive financial incentives as part of the intervention. See arm descriptions for more detail.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in Weight From Baseline to 6 Months
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Change in Weight From Baseline to 12 Months
Time Frame: 12 months
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Collaborators

Duke University
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

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

September 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 26, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 11, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

July 16, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 27, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 26, 2018

Last Verified

September 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 816917
  • 1R01AG045045-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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