Impact of Loss Aversion Messaging and Anticipated Regret for Inaction on Exercise Adherence in Older Adults

April 16, 2026 updated by: Jordan Kurth, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Testing the Impact of Loss Aversion Messaging and Anticipated Regret for Inaction on Exercise Adherence in Older Adults: A Randomized Pilot Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if messages focused on not losing the functional benefits of exercise can help older adults with walking difficulty continue to exercise regularly. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Do these messages make people more likely to anticipate regretting it if they do not exercise? Does more anticipated regret make it more likely they will exercise more regularly?

Researchers will compare two versions of messages to see if the content of these one of these message types is more effective than the other.

Participants will complete a daily 5-minute at home exercise program for 4 months and complete regular online surveys to track their progress and report their feelings regarding regret.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The goal of the proposed clinical trial is to identify strategies to blunt the effects of post-intervention decay in older adults with difficulty walking. While early improvements from exercise are large, they typically plateau and then decline post-intervention. This early improvement, however, creates an opportunity. Similar to daily interactions common with private companies, the investigators seek to increase the rate of conversion - that is, completing the task - while considering the improvements from engaging in exercise to be accumulated benefits. Drawing from behavioral economics, then, the investigators propose that the conversion rate to act (i.e., increase the likelihood of completing daily exercises) may be increased by using loss aversion (i.e., loss of accumulated benefits) in the form of messaging.

In this study the investigators will conduct a randomized trial among individuals (N=128) age 65 and over who have serious difficulty walking and have completed an at-home, brief strength training intervention, comparing 4 months of standard adherence reminders to standard adherence reminders supplemented with periodic loss aversion messages. The proposed trial aims to answer the questions: (1) Does the supplementation of loss aversion messaging increase anticipated regret for inaction among older adults previously enrolled in an at-home exercise program? (2) Does higher anticipated regret predict greater intention to exercise and exercise adherence post-intervention?

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

148

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 Contact

Study Locations

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

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Completed 12 months of FAST intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No planned surgeries within the upcoming 4 months

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Loss Aversion Messaging
Standard reminders to perform exercise will be delivered daily. Loss aversion messages will be included with those messages in the experimental condition on a maximum of 3 out of the 7 days each week. There will be 3 themes (related to their performance of daily exercises) featured as topics for the loss aversion messages. The three themes are: 1) standing up from a chair (i.e., chair stands), 2) going up and down stairs (i.e., aerobic steps), and 3) walking longer distances (i.e., walking laps).
Behavioral: Brief Daily At-Home Strength Training Program

FAST is a brief, daily, at-home exercise program designed for older adults with difficulty walking. The program includes 5 exercises performed for 30 seconds each, during which time participants try to complete as many repetitions as they can, followed by 30 seconds of rest.

The 5 exercises are: chair stands, countertop pushups, aerobic steps, resistance band rows, and walking laps. Participants are sent daily reminders and links for self-monitoring their performance.

Behavioral: Loss Aversion Messaging
Loss aversion messages will be included with those messages in the experimental condition on a maximum of 3 out of the 7 days each week. There will be 3 themes (related to their performance of daily exercises) featured as topics for the loss aversion messages. The three themes are: 1) standing up from a chair (i.e., chair stands), 2) going up and down stairs (i.e., aerobic steps), and 3) walking longer distances (i.e., walking laps).
Behavioral: Standard Adherence Reminder Messaging
Standard reminders to perform exercise will be delivered daily.
Active Comparator: Standard Adherence Messaging
Standard reminders to perform exercise will be delivered daily.
Behavioral: Brief Daily At-Home Strength Training Program

FAST is a brief, daily, at-home exercise program designed for older adults with difficulty walking. The program includes 5 exercises performed for 30 seconds each, during which time participants try to complete as many repetitions as they can, followed by 30 seconds of rest.

The 5 exercises are: chair stands, countertop pushups, aerobic steps, resistance band rows, and walking laps. Participants are sent daily reminders and links for self-monitoring their performance.

Behavioral: Standard Adherence Reminder Messaging
Standard reminders to perform exercise will be delivered daily.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Anticipated Regret of Inaction
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, and Week 16
One is equivalent to definitely not anticipating regret and 8 indicates definitely anticipating regret.
Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, and Week 16

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intention to Complete Exercise Program
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, and Week 16
One indicates definitely not intending to complete all of the exercise program over the next week and 8 indicates definitely intending to complete all of the exercise program over the next week.
Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, and Week 16
Adherence to Exercise Program
Time Frame: Data collected daily, assessed over the 16 weeks of intervention.
A percentage of days on which the exercise program was completed (0-100%).
Data collected daily, assessed over the 16 weeks of intervention.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

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 (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 10, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 16, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 20, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 16, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00028949

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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