Personalizing Financial Incentives (Log2LoseAI)

Log2LoseAI: Reinforcement Learning to Create a Framework for Personalizing Financial Incentives

The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility of providing personalized incentives for dietary self-monitoring and/or interim weight loss to people enrolled in a weight-loss program

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Obesity & Overweight
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: personalized financial incentives

Detailed Description

In this study, community outpatients will participate in a clinician-facilitated, group-based behavioral weight-loss program for 24 weeks. Dietary self-monitoring data (input by patients via a mobile phone dietary application) and weight data (input by patients via cellular scale) will be collected by a software platform. A reinforcement learning algorithm will use data collected during the trial to predict which participants will respond to a financial incentive. Incentives will be provided to participants predicted to respond, and they will be notified of incentives via text messaging.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Corrine Voils, PhD; Phone Number: 801-585-6667; Email: corrine.voils@hsc.utah.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Fiona Robertson; Email: fiona.robertson@hsc.utah.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Utah
    • Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, 84108
      • Recruiting
      • University of Utah
      • Contact: Corrine Voils, PhD; Phone Number: 801-585-6667; Email: corrine.voils@hsc.utah.edu
      • Contact: Fiona Robertson; Email: fiona.robertson@hsc.utah.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Willing to attend virtual baseline and follow-up data collection visits
2. At least 18 years of age
3. Verified obesity as defined as a BMI ≥30 kg/m2
4. Agree to attend 13 biweekly group classes (virtual) delivered by a registered dietitian
5. Agree to review study materials between classes
6. Regular access to an unshared smart phone
7. Reliable access to internet
8. Able to speak and read English
9. Desire to lose weight
10. Able to connect to a video conference call using a smartphone, tablet or computer with a webcam and microphone
11. Ability to download and use Fitbit app daily
12. Have or be willing to create a Gmail address
13. Physical ability to stand on a scale without support

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Weight loss of at least 10lbs in the month prior to screening
2. Weight > 380lbs
3. Currently enrolled or enrolled in the previous month in a clinical, research, or community program focusing on lifestyle change that could affect weight
4. New user of weight loss medication
5. Pregnant, lactating or planning on becoming pregnant during the study
6. History of bariatric procedure or planning to have bariatric procedure in the study timeframe
7. Residing in a nursing home, skilled nursing facility or assisted living facility
8. Impaired hearing
9. Significant dementia, drug or alcohol abuse, or unstable psychiatric illness (e.g., schizophrenia, psychosis)
10. Current treatment for cancer or being treated for cancer (besides basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell) in the last 6 months
11. Use of insulin, sulfonylureas, or meglitinides due to increased risk for hypoglycemia
12. Diuretic medication doses higher than hydrochlorothiazide or chlorthalidone 25 mg daily, furosemide 40 mg daily, torsemide 20 mg daily, bumetanide 1 mg daily, or any use of metolazone; use of potassium-sparing diuretics is acceptable
13. Unstable heart disease in the 6 months prior to screening
14. Chronic kidney disease at stage 4 or higher
15. Exertional chest pain
16. Pain, fainting, or other conditions that prohibit mild/moderate exercise
17. History of ascites requiring paracentesis
18. Inducing vomiting to prevent weight gain or counteract the effects of eating an average of 1 time per week or more in the past 3 months*
19. Not suitable for study participation due to other reasons at the discretion of the investigators

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Personalized incentives; Participants may receive financial incentives for weight loss if their performance suggests they respond to financial incentives.	Behavioral: personalized financial incentives; Every week, a reinforcement learning algorithm will process data on weight loss, calorie logging, and incentives earned to predict that their weight loss is positively influenced by incentives.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Screening-to-enrollment ratio	number of potential participants screened for the study/ number of participants who provide a baseline weight for the intervention	Week 0
Retention for outcomes	number of participants who provide a weight at 25 weeks/number of participants who provide a baseline weight for the intervention	25 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Adherence to calorie logging	Proportion of weeks participants achieve adequate calorie logging (5 days per week)	24 weeks
Adherence to self-weighing	Proportion of weeks participants weigh at least twice per week on a study-provided cellular scale	24 weeks
Body weight	Changes in body weight from baseline to week 25, measured by study-provided cellular scales	baseline to 25 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Utah
• Collaborators: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 4, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 28, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 28, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 4, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 5, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): November 6, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 6, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 5, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: behavioral intervention; obesity; artificial intelligence; reinforcement learning; financial incentives
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nutrition Disorders; Overnutrition; Body Weight; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Overweight; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 00188990; R34HL170205 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: This study will collect weight data from the cellular-connect scales, calorie logging data from the dietary tracking app, and self-reported survey data including demographics and behavioral measures. Additional data will include binary indicators for whether participants earned an incentive each week of the study and how much they earned, generated by algorithms created by the research team using scale and dietary tracking app data.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Scientific data will be available by the earlier of these two time points, as required by the NIH: 1) the date on which the article is first made available in print or electronic format, or 2) the funding period (to include a possible no-cost extension).
• 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