Metabolic Syndrome
Conditions
Keywords
Metabolic Syndrome, Workplace wellness
Brief summary
The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of an outreach campaign designed to increase engagement with Pack Health, a Quest Diagnostics wellness program providing individual health coaching for weight management and diabetes prevention. While employee wellness and disease-management programs have the potential to improve wellbeing and reduce healthcare costs, their effectiveness is often undermined by low engagement and selection bias in participant comparisons. This study will test whether an outreach approach that auto-enrolls eligible individuals-employees and their spouses/domestic partners-into the program, with the option to opt out, can increase engagement and improve health outcomes compared to the standard invitation-based approach.
Detailed description
The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of an outreach campaign designed to increase engagement with Pack Health, a Quest Diagnostics wellness program providing individual health coaching for weight management and diabetes prevention. While employee wellness and disease-management programs have the potential to improve wellbeing and reduce healthcare costs, their effectiveness is often undermined by low engagement and selection bias in participant comparisons. This study will test whether an outreach approach that auto-enrolls eligible individuals-employees and their spouses/domestic partners-into the program, with the option to opt out, can increase engagement and improve health outcomes compared to the standard invitation-based approach. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: the intervention group, which will receive auto-enrollment outreach, and the control group, which will receive traditional invitation-based outreach. The primary outcome will measure program engagement as the share who begin the program. Secondary outcomes will include additional measures of engagement, such as the number of modules completed, health outcomes observed in subsequent risk assessments and healthcare claims, and employee retention. This trial will provide evidence on whether an opt-out framing in outreach campaigns can enhance the effectiveness of wellness programs, ultimately informing best practices for population health management.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALOpt-out framing
Outreach notifies those eligible that they are enrolled in the program and invites them to start participating.
BEHAVIORALOpt-in framing
Eligible participants are invited to enroll
Sponsors
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Quest Diagnostics-Nichols Insitute
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
21 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. Provided informed consent. 2. Those who are eligible for the Pack Health program: * Employees/spouses/domestic partners over the age of 18 * Metabolic syndrome defined as results indicating 3 or more of the following risk factors: * High waist circumference (\>35 inches for women and \>40 inches for men) * High triglycerides (≥150 mg/dl) * Low HDL cholesterol (\<50 mg/dl for women and \<40 mg/dl for men) * High Blood Pressure (≥130/85) * High Fasting Glucose (≥100 mg/dl)
Exclusion criteria
* 1\. Anyone under the age of 21. They will not be part of the study and will receive messages as if they were in the control group. 2\. Anyone observed in claims data with a historical diagnosis of: * Anorexia nervosa * Bulimia nervosa * Binge-eating disorder * Body dysmorphic disorder * Major depression * Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) * Severe anxiety disorder
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Probability of Engagement initiation | 12 months | The outcome is whether participants begin the program at some point during the Annual Risk Assessment year. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Probability of Engagement level | 12 months | Number of modules completed during the Annual Risk Assessment year. |
| Probability of Retention at end of annual-risk-assessment year | 12 months | Indicator the person is working for the firm on August 31, 2025 |
| Annual Risk Assessment Measures: HbA1c | 24 months | HbA1c the following year's Annual Risk Assessment |
| Annual Risk Assessment Measures: Weight | 24 months | Weight measured in the following year's Annual Risk Assessment |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mean number of Inpatient visits | 12 months | Number of inpatient visits during the Annual Risk Assessment year. |
| Mean number of outpatient visits | 12 months | Number of outpatient visits during the Annual Risk Assessment year. |
| Mean number of ED visits | 12 months | Number of emergency department visits during the Annual Risk Assessment year. |
| Mean total healthcare claims | 12 months | Total healthcare claims during the Annual Risk Assessment year. |
| Probability of full program engagement | 12 months | Indicator for completing 9 modules during the Annual Risk Assessment year. |
| Probability of membership in the top 5% of healthcare claims | 12 months | Indicator that the person is in the right tail of the distribution of claims. |
| Probability of membership in the top 1% of healthcare claims | 12 months | Indicator that the person is in the right tail of the distribution of claims. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
Primary ContactJoseph Doyle, PhD
Backup ContactDavid Molitor, PhD
Outcome results
None listed