Physically Inactive Hospital Employees
Conditions
Keywords
financial health incentives, physical activity, behavioral economics, randomized control trial, workplace health
Brief summary
The objective of this randomized control trial is to examine whether incentives-for-steps (i.e. $1 per day step count goals are reached) increase daily step counts among physically inactive hospital employees.
Detailed description
A 24-week, parallel arm, randomized control trial will be employed to examine the impact of incentives on physical activity among physically inactive Hamilton Health Science Corporation employees. Participants will be randomly allocated (1:1) into control (i.e. wellness program and accelerometer) or intervention groups (i.e. wellness program, accelerometer, incentives), where only intervention participants will receive reward points for completing daily step count goals. After randomization, a baseline 'run-in' assessment phase will occur one week prior to the study intervention (T0). During this 'run-in' period, participants will wear a Bluetooth enabled StepsCount Piezo accelerometer, which will track participants' daily steps and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and synchronize their accelerometer (i.e. upload information) to the Change4Life program for seven days. Participants will also be asked to complete the Behavioural Regulation to Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3) and the Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale. Throughout the 24-week study, all participants will be asked to wear the accelerometer and synchronize it to the Change4Life program daily. Date, steps per day, and bout minutes of MVPA per day (bouts include 10 or more continuous minutes of MVPA) will be collected when the accelerometer is synchronized. Daily synchronization from the accelerometer to the Change4Life program must be completed by 10 am the next morning. Participants will be instructed to increase their daily step counts by 1,000 and 2,000 steps above baseline (T0) over the course of the first six weeks of the study. On week 7, participants will be asked to increase daily steps per day to 3,000 over baseline, and maintain that level of activity for the duration of the study. Outcome measures will be assessed at baseline (T0), intervention end point (T2), and follow up (T3).
Interventions
BEHAVIORALWellness program
All participants have access to Change4Life, a web-based health education and behaviour change program. Individuals are rewarded with very modest incentives (uncertain chance; less than 1 in 100 chance of earning) when they complete learning modules or health tasks.
DEVICEAccelerometer
All participants will be asked to wear the StepsCount Piezo accelerometer, which tracks steps and bout minutes of MVPA per day, synchronize the device to the Change4Life program, and reach daily step count goals for 24 weeks.
BEHAVIORALIncentive
During the first 12 weeks, participants will be eligible to earn $1 in vouchers (e.g., grocery, cinema) when daily goals are reached. The total amount available over the 3-month intervention period will be $90 (9,000 points). During weeks 13 to 24, participants will not receive daily reward points for completing step count goals.
Sponsors
Green Shield Canada Inc.
Cookson James Loyalty Inc.
Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation
University of Toronto
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Over the age of 18 years * English speaking
Exclusion criteria
* Existing medical condition, which could be exacerbated by physical activity as measured by the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire. Note. Participants cannot enrol in the study without Internet access
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Steps | Daily for 24 weeks | Steps per day will be objectively assessed using the Bluetooth enabled, medical grade, StepsCount Piezo accelerometer |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Minute Bouts of Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity | Daily for 24 weeks | 10 minutes bouts of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day will be objectively assessed using the Bluetooth enabled, medical grade, StepsCount Piezo accelerometer. |
| Motivation to Exercise - Behavioural Regulation to Exercise Questionnaire; BREQ-3 | Baseline (T0; week 0), intervention end point (T2; week 12), and follow up assessments (T3; week 24). | Participants will be asked to complete the Behavioural Regulation to Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3; Markland & Tobin, 2004; Wilson et al., 2006), a 24-item questionnaire designed to measure self-determined motivation to exercise. This questionnaire will be administered online at baseline (T0; week 0), intervention end point (T2; week 12), and follow up assessments (T3; week 24). |
| Walking Self-Efficacy - Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale; SEE Scale | Baseline (T0; week 0), intervention end point (T2; week 12), and follow up assessments (T3; week 24). | Participants will be asked to complete a modified version of the Self-efficacy for Exercise (SEE) Scale (Resnick & Jenkins, 2000), a 9-item questionnaire designed to measure self-reported confidence to exercise (i.e. walk). This questionnaire will be administered online at baseline (T0; week 0), intervention end point (T2; week 12), and follow up assessments (T3; week 24). |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed