Exercise Incentives for YMCA Based Exercise

Empirical Testing of a Widely Available Insurance-based Monetary Incentive Program for Exercise: A Randomized Trial

The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial to test financial incentive programs (versus control) to promote physical activity among 330 adults who have a YMCA membership. Participants will have the opportunity to earn up to $100 or $200 (depending on the condition they are assigned to) for attending at least 50 sessions at the YMCA over 6 months. Participants will have two 6-month windows during which they will have the opportunity to earn the incentive. In addition to the incentives, participants will complete research assessments every 3 months.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Physical Inactivity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Monetary Incentives

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 330
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Lauren C Bohlen, Ph.D.; Phone Number: 401-863-6559; Email: exercise4good@brown.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Viveka Ayala-Heredia; Phone Number: 401-206-5403

Study Locations

• United States
  • Rhode Island
    • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02912
      • Recruiting
      • Brown University
      • Contact: Lauren Connell Bohlen, PhD; Phone Number: 401-863-6559; Email: lauren_bohlen@brown.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. A current member, or willing to become a current member of one of the following branches of the YMCA:

   1. Bayside Family YMCA (Barrington, RI)
   2. Cranston YMCA (Cranston, RI)
   3. East Side/Mt. Hope YMCA (Providence, RI)
   4. Kent County YMCA (Warwick, RI)
   5. Newman YMCA (Seekonk, MA)
   6. South County YMCA (South Kingston, RI)
2. Age 18 years or older
3. Physically capable of engaging in exercise

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Not a current member, and unwilling to become a member of one of the above listed YMCA branches.
2. Under age 18.
3. Physically incapable of exercise
4. Doctor has recommended that you should not exercise because of a current health condition

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

5

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Message 1 - $100; Participants are offered an incentive of $100 to complete 50 exercise sessions at the YMCA within 6 months (Description of incentive 1)	Behavioral: Monetary Incentives; Monetary incentives, provided in the form of pre-loaded Visa debit cards are provided to encourage exercise.
Experimental: Message 2 - $100; Participants are offered an incentive of $100 to complete 50 exercise sessions at the YMCA within 6 months (Description of incentive 2).	Behavioral: Monetary Incentives; Monetary incentives, provided in the form of pre-loaded Visa debit cards are provided to encourage exercise.
Experimental: Message 1 - $200; Participants are offered an incentive of $200 to complete 50 exercise sessions at the YMCA within 6 months (Description of incentive 1).	Behavioral: Monetary Incentives; Monetary incentives, provided in the form of pre-loaded Visa debit cards are provided to encourage exercise.
Experimental: Message 2 - $200; Participants are offered an incentive of $200 to complete 50 exercise sessions at the YMCA within 6 months (Description of incentive 2).	Behavioral: Monetary Incentives; Monetary incentives, provided in the form of pre-loaded Visa debit cards are provided to encourage exercise.
No Intervention: Control; Participants complete all assessments, and are eligible to receive compensation for participating in the research components of the study.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Number of YMCA visits	Number of sessions (max 1 per day) a person signs into the YMCA	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Accelerometry	Minutes of physical activity weighted by intensity, expressed in metabolic equivalent (MET) minutes per week as determined by accelerometers (Actigraph [model wGT3x-BT]) worn during one-week periods.	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Self-report physical activity (Godin)	Self-reported minutes of leisure time physical activity (inside and outside the YMCA) per week weighted by intensity	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Self-Reported Habit of Physical Activity Questionnaire	Measures a person's habits regarding exercise, with a minimum value of 1 and a maximum value of 7, higher scores indicate a stronger habit.	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Anticipated Regret Questionnaire	Measures a person's anticipated feelings of remorse if they do not do exercise, or achieve the incentives, on a scale from 1-11, with higher scores indicating more anticipated regret.	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Opportunity Questionnaire	Measures a person's opportunity to do regular aerobic physical activity, with scores ranging from 1-7, and higher scores indicating more opportunity for physical activity.	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Capability Questionnaire	Measures a person's physical and psychological capability to do regular aerobic physical activity with scores ranging from 1-7, and higher scores indicating more capability for physical activity.	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Exercise Facility Use Questionnaire	Measures access and membership to fitness facilities.	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Physical Activity Hedonic/Reflective Motivation	Measures the extent to which a person's motivation for physical activity is rooted in reflective and/or hedonic processes. There are two subscales. The hedonic subscale ranges from 0-10, with higher scores indicating more hedonic motivation for physical activity. The reflective subscale ranges from 0-10 with higher scores indicating more reflective motivation for physical activity.	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Subjective Social Status	Measures a person's perception of their subjective social status	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Reward Responsiveness	Measures the extent to which a person is responsive to external rewards	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Consideration of Future Consequences	Measures the extent to which a person considers the future (delayed) consequences of their actions	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Delay Discounting	Measures the extent to which a person discounts future rewards and prioritizes immediate rewards	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Loss Aversion	Measures the extent to which a person chooses actions in an attempt to avoid experiencing losses	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Overall Health (SF-12 Survey)	Measures a person's perception of their overall health and quality of life, scores range from 1-5 with higher scores indicating poorer health outcomes.	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Quality of Life and Health Status (EQ-5D-5L)	The EQ-5D-5L comprises a short descriptive system questionnaire and a visual analogue scale (EQ VAS) that are cognitively undemanding, taking only a few minutes to complete. The questionnaire provides a simple descriptive profile of a respondent's health state. The EQ VAS provides an alternative way to elicit an individual's rating of their own overall current health. When the descriptive system profile is linked to a 'value set', a single summary index value for health status is derived that can be used in economic evaluations of health-care interventions. A value set provides values (weights) for each health state description according to the preferences of the general population of a country/region. Value sets for the EQ-5D-5L and 3L versions are available in a large and growing number of countries.	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Absenteeism and Presenteeism	Measures the amount of time a person worked and was expected to work in the past 7-28 days; and their perceived job performance when at work	Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Brown University
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: David M Williams, Ph.D., Brown University School of Public Health; Principal Investigator: Omar Galarraga, Ph.D., Brown University School of Public Health

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 16, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 9, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): January 30, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 27, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 26, 2024
• Last Verified: June 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Motivation; Incentives
• Other Study ID Numbers: R01CA262894 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified data will be shared with interested parties after all of the initial study analyses and outcomes have been published.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data will be available 1 year after study completion.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: All data access requests will be reviewed by a panel prior to acceptance
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; 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