Behavioral Economics-Based Online Lifestyle Balance Program

The objective of this project is to design a Behavioral Economics Based Online Lifestyle Balance Program that employs behavioral economics to engage and motivate adherence to an Internet-based program. The investigators compare the effects of two financial incentives on inducing weight loss: a direct financial incentive for weight loss and a financial incentive for health literacy.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Weight Reduction
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Incentive for Education; Behavioral: Incentive for Weight Loss

Detailed Description

This project investigates whether participants in an online weight loss program can be induced to achieve weight loss using financial incentives. The study is a 3-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) stratified by gender. The goal is to examine how overweight individuals respond to two different types of financial incentives. The first type of incentive, incentive for weight loss (IW), is a cash award of approximately $150 given for achieving 5% weight loss over 12 weeks. The second type of incentive, incentive for education (IE), is a $150 award for passing quizzes that test the participants' health literacy about weight loss and the techniques required for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The investigators compare the effectiveness of IW to IE in promoting weight loss in overweight individuals and investigate whether the two incentives work equally well for men and women.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 710
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Singapore
  • Singapore, Singapore, 119077
    • National University of Singapore

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 40 years to 60 years (ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• BMI between 23 and 33
• Age between 40 and 60 years old

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of diabetes
• History of significant cardiovascular disease
• Family history of atherosclerosis
• High blood pressure
• Significant lung disease

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: FACTORIAL
• Masking: SINGLE

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
NO_INTERVENTION: Control; Participants are enrolled in a 12-week, self-administered online weight loss program. The program is delivered through 12 weekly sessions; each includes educational videos and a health literacy quiz. Each quiz contains 10 questions, and a quiz is considered "passed" when at least 7 questions are answered correctly. All participants are encouraged to follow the program, take the quizzes, and lose 5% of their baseline body weight by the end of the program. No financial incentives are given for losing weight or passing quizzes.
EXPERIMENTAL: Incentive for Education; Same 12-week, self-administered online weight loss program as in the Control arm. Each participant is also given a $150 "Incentive for Education" for passing at least nine quizzes by the end of the program.	Behavioral: Incentive for Education; A $150 "Incentive for Education" is given to the participants for passing at least nine quizzes by the end of the program
EXPERIMENTAL: Incentive for Weight Loss; Same 12-week, self-administered online weight loss program as in the Control arm. Each participant is also given a $150 "Incentive for Weight Loss" for losing 5% of their baseline body weight.	Behavioral: Incentive for Weight Loss; A $150 "Incentive for Weight Loss" is given to the participants for losing at least 5% of baseline weight by the end of the program

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Weight Loss at the end of the weight loss program (at Week 13)	Weight measured at the Week 13 weigh-in session. Weight measurements are taken by trained research assistants using digital scales.	At week 13 of the RCT.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Weight Loss at the end of the post-intervention period (Week 25)	Weight measured at the Week 25 weigh-in session. Weight measurements are taken by trained research assistants using digital scales.	At week 25 of the RCT.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National University of Singapore

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): October 12, 2015
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): June 22, 2016
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): June 22, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 11, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 11, 2018
• First Posted (ACTUAL): May 23, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): August 22, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 20, 2018
• Last Verified: August 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Health Literacy; Weight Reduction; Financial Incentives; Lifestyle Change
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Body Weight; Body Weight Changes; Weight Loss
• Other Study ID Numbers: A-14-071

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in the research, after de-identification (text, tables, figures, and appendices).
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Beginning 3 months and ending 5 years following article publication.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Investigators whose proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee identified for this purpose.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No