Testing Strategies to Encourage Weight Loss in an Employer Setting

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

This is a 3-arm pilot randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of two novel ways of structuring financial incentives to motivate and sustain long-term weight loss. The study will recruit eligible employees at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to participate in a 6-month weight loss program and an additional 3-month follow-up period. The primary outcome measure in this randomized control trial will be pounds of weight lost between baseline and 6 months. The goal of this study is to evaluate whether a novel financial incentive program delivered through a workplace can effectively encourage sustained weight loss among obese employees.

The study hypotheses are 1) mean weight loss will be greater in all the intervention groups compared to the control group by the end of the 24-week intervention period; and 2) individuals in the intervention groups will have a lower mean weight at the end of the 12-week follow-up period than individuals in the control group.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Weight Loss	Behavioral: No intervention Behavioral: Group-based payout Behavioral: Individual payout	N/A

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Actual Enrollment :

105 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Parallel Assignment

Masking:

None (Open Label)

Primary Purpose:

Treatment

Official Title:

Testing Strategies to Encourage Weight Loss in an Employer Setting

Study Start Date :

Mar 1, 2011

Actual Primary Completion Date :

Jan 1, 2012

Actual Study Completion Date :

Aug 1, 2014

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: 1	Behavioral: Individual payout Monthly weigh-ins for 6 months and if monthly goals are met, participants receive payout at the end of the month, with follow-up weigh-in at 9 months
Experimental: 2	Behavioral: Group-based payout Monthly weigh-ins for 6 months where five sequential participants, randomized to this condition, will be joined into virtual groups where individual rewards for weight loss are dependent on the weight loss of others in the group, with follow-up weigh in at 9 months
Active Comparator: 3	Behavioral: No intervention Monthly weigh-ins for 6 months without financial incentives associated with weight loss, and follow-up weigh-in at 9 months

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Experimental: 1

Behavioral: Individual payout

Monthly weigh-ins for 6 months and if monthly goals are met, participants receive payout at the end of the month, with follow-up weigh-in at 9 months

Experimental: 2

Behavioral: Group-based payout

Monthly weigh-ins for 6 months where five sequential participants, randomized to this condition, will be joined into virtual groups where individual rewards for weight loss are dependent on the weight loss of others in the group, with follow-up weigh in at 9 months

Active Comparator: 3

Behavioral: No intervention

Monthly weigh-ins for 6 months without financial incentives associated with weight loss, and follow-up weigh-in at 9 months

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Change in weight between baseline and six months [24 weeks]

Secondary Outcome Measures

usability of a newly developed web portal and its feasibility for future randomized clinical trials aimed at changing health-related behaviors [end of study]

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years to 70 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

Aged 18 to 70 (inclusive)
BMI between 30 and 40 (inclusive)

Exclusion Criteria:

Inability to consent
Illiteracy and/or inability to speak, read, and write English
Participation in another research study
Current treatment for drug or alcohol use
Consumption of ≥ 5 alcoholic drinks per day
Myocardial infarction or stroke within the past 6 months
Current addiction to prescription medicines or street drugs
Serious psychiatric diagnoses (e.g., severe major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia)
Pregnant or currently breastfeeding
Diabetic and using any medicine besides metformin to control blood glucose
Metastatic cancer
Unstable medical conditions that would likely prevent the subject from completing the study
Previous diagnosis of an eating disorder
History of unsafe weight loss behaviors such as binging or the use of laxatives