Social Incentives To Encourage Physical Activity and Understand Predictors (STEPUP)

University of Pennsylvania

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obesity

Treatments: Behavioral: Collaborative social incentive; Behavioral: Supportive social incentive; Behavioral: Competitive social incentive

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03311230

827508

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study tests the effectiveness of three social incentive-based gamification interventions to increase physical activity using a 24-week intervention period with a 12-week follow-up.

Full description

This is a four-arm randomized, controlled trial with a 24-week intervention period and 12-week follow-up period. Participants are considered ready to be randomized once they have completed all surveys, established a baseline step count, and selected a step goal increase.Participants in the control arm will receive no other interventions during the 24-week intervention period or the 12-week follow-up period. Participants randomized to the one of the three intervention arms will have a 4-week ramp up towards their step goal. The participant will then be asked to maintain their goal during the 20-week "maintenance period" and the 12-week "follow-up period." Participants in arms 2-4 will be entered into an intervention approach that has points and levels designed to incorporate insights from behavioral economics. Participants in the supportive social incentive arm will be asked to identify a family member or friend to be their support sponsor. This sponsor will be encouraged to support the participant in their progress during the study. Participants in the competitive social incentive arm will be in a group of three total participants.At the end of each week the participants will receive notification that ranks them on their cumulative points in the study thus far and also displays their level.This feedback may help to induce participants to compete for the top spot among the group. Participants in the collaborative social incentive arm will be in a group of three total participants as a team. Each day one of the members of the group will be randomly selected to represent their team for that day. In this design, each person is accountable to the others on the team and this may induce a collaborative effort to meet their daily goals.

Enrollment: 602 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Age 18 years or older;
2. ability to read and provide informed consent to participate in the study;
3. Self-reported body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater.
4. Smartphone or tablet compatible with application for the wearable activity tracking device.

Exclusion criteria

1. Conditions that would make participation infeasible such as inability to provide informed consent, illiteracy or inability to speak, read, and write English;
2. conditions that would make participation unsafe such as pregnancy or being told by a physician not to exercise;
3. already enrolled in another study targeting physical activity;
4. any other medical conditions or reasons he or she is unable to participate in a physical activity study for 36 weeks.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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602 participants in 4 patient groups

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in this arm will receive no other interventions during the 9 month study period

Supportive social incentive

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will identify a family member or friend to support them during a gamification intervention.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Supportive social incentive

Competitive social incentive

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will compete in a gamification intervention in groups of three.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Competitive social incentive

Collaborative social incentive

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will collaborate in groups of three in a gamification intervention

Treatment:

Behavioral: Collaborative social incentive