Way to Be Active 2 (Lotteries)

A Randomized Trial of Behavioral Economic Interventions to Improve Physical Activities: Lottery Incentives

Employers are increasingly looking for opportunities to motivate sedentary employees to become more physically active. Workplace walking programs have had mixed success and typically show most improvement among participants that are already fairly active at a baseline. The goal of this study is to determine whether a financial incentive program can motivate sedentary employees to increase the number of steps they walk per day to meet a minimum threshold.

Our primary outcome measure is the proportion of days a minimum activity of 7000 steps or more is achieved. We will assess outcomes each week for 3 months using incentives followed by 3 months of follow-up without incentives. Secondary outcomes will include the average steps walked per day.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sedentary Employees
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Basic Lottery; Behavioral: Combined Lottery; Behavioral: Jackpot Lottery

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 209
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

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

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 100 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1. We will use a minimum age of 18 to ensure all individuals are legally able to consent.
• 2. Participant will need an iPhone or Android smartphone to be able to use the Moves App for tracking steps

Exclusion Criteria:

• Conditions that would make participation infeasible: 1a. Inability to consent 1b. Illiteracy and/or inability to speak, read, and write English 1c. Participation in another research study 2. Conditions that would make participation unsafe: 2a. Current treatment for drug or alcohol use 2b. Consumption of at least 5 alcoholic drinks per day 2c. Myocardial infarction or stroke within the past 6 months 2d. Current addiction to prescription medicines or street drugs 2e. Serious psychiatric diagnoses (e.g., severe major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia) 2f. Pregnant or currently breastfeeding 2g. Metastatic cancer 2h. Unstable medical conditions that would likely prevent the participant from completing the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control; Participants receive either an email or text message daily (based on the participant's preference) stating whether the participant achieved the 7000 step goal during the previous day.
Experimental: Basic Lottery; Participants receive either an email or text message daily (based on the participant's preference) stating whether the participant achieved the 7000 step goal during the previous day. Each day a lottery will be held, and participants will be eligible to collect monetary rewards only if the participant met the step goal the day before. The names of the winners will be announced during each lottery. The daily lotteries are as follows: About a 1 in 4 chance of winning $5. Expected value is about $1.40 per person per day.	Behavioral: Basic Lottery; Participants who meet their daily step goals will be eligible for a daily lottery. They will have about a 1 in 4 chance of winning $5. Expected value is about $1.40 per person per day.
Experimental: Combined Lottery; Participants receive either an email or text message daily (based on the participant's preference) stating whether the participant achieved the 7000 step goal during the previous day. Each day a lottery will be held, and participants will be eligible to collect monetary rewards only if the participant met the step goal the day before. The names of the winners will be announced during each lottery. The daily lotteries are as follows: About a 1 in 5 chance of winning $5 and a 1 in 100 chance of winning $50. Expected value is about $1.40 per person per day.	Behavioral: Combined Lottery; Participants who meet their daily step goals will be eligible for a daily lottery. They will have about a 1 in 4 chance of winning $5 and a 1 in 100 chance of winning $50. Expected value is about $1.40 per person per day.
Experimental: Jackpot Lottery; Participants receive either an email or text message daily (based on the participant's preference) stating whether the participant achieved the 7000 step goal during the previous day. Each day a lottery will be held, and participants will be eligible to collect monetary rewards only if the participant met the step goal the day before. The names of the winners will be announced during each lottery. The daily lotteries are as follows: About a 1 in 400 chance of winning $500. Expected value is about $1.40 per person per day.	Behavioral: Jackpot Lottery; Participants who meet their daily step goals will be eligible for a daily lottery. They will have about a 1 in 400 chance of winning $500. Expected value is about $1.40 per person per day.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Proportion of Days a Minimum Activity of 7000 Steps or More is Achieved During Intervention	Our primary outcome measure is the proportion of days a minimum activity of 7000 steps or more is achieved. We will assess outcomes for 3 months using incentives followed by 3 months of follow-up without incentives. All available data will be analyzed, and missing will be treated as true missing data points. Secondary outcomes will include the average steps walked per day.	End of study- 6 months of after enrollment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Average Number of Steps Per Day During Intervention	Secondary outcomes include average number of steps per day during intervention (with incentives) and follow up periods (without incentives).	End of study- 6 months after enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kevin M Volpp, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): October 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 3, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 3, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): December 9, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 5, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 11, 2019
• Last Verified: February 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Sedentary; Financial Incentives; Workplace Wellness; Behavioral Economic Intervention; Team Studies; Team Incentives
• Other Study ID Numbers: 819103