Tying Devices as a Means of Increasing Exercise

University of Pennsylvania

Status: Completed

Conditions: Healthy

Treatments: Behavioral: Suggested Tying Intervention; Behavioral: Forced Tying Intervention; Behavioral: Control

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01410812

813970

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators propose that healthy behaviors such as exercise could be increased through the use of tying devices - mechanisms that force a coupling of addictive activities (listening to the next chapter of a page-turner novel) with engagement in a healthy behavior (exercise).

Full description

The study will test the effect of the following treatments as a means of increasing gym attendance over 10 weeks: 1. Participants receive access to 4 iTunes audio novels on their own iPods and prompted to listen to those novels only when exercising at the gym; 2: Participants receive 4 iTunes audio novels for a loaned iPod that they will only have access to at the gym; 3: Participants receive weekly emails asking them about their exercise.

Enrollment: 226 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 75 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Stable health as determined by the screening of their medical history
• Own an iPod
• An interest in exercising more regularly
• Belong to the Pottruck Gym at University of Pennsylvania
• Interested in exercising more through the use of aerobic exercise machines

Exclusion criteria

• Recent myocardial infraction
• congestive heart failure
• uncontrolled hypertension
• self-report of 6 or more alcoholic beverages per day or use of any illicit drugs
• bulimia nervosa or related behaviors
• diabetes medication

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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226 participants in 3 patient groups

Suggested Tying

Experimental group

Description:

Receive same treatments as control group, but instead of receiving cash they receive 4 iTunes audio novels for their own iPods. Further, they are prompted to try to listen to those novels only when exercising at the gym in order to increase their attendance.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Suggested Tying Intervention

Forced Tying

Experimental group

Description:

Receives same treatment as the control group. However, in addition to receiving the cash, they also receive 4 iTunes audio novels for a loaned iPod that they will only have access to at the gym. They are told they may only listen to these novels only when at the gym in order to increase their attendance.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Forced Tying Intervention

Control

Experimental group

Description:

Control group of participants who do not receive any intervention but are weighed at the beginning and end of a 10 week period and receive weekly emails asking them about their exercise. They also receive the equivalent cash value of 4 iTunes audio novels

Treatment:

Behavioral: Control