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IIR 15-459 – HSR Study

 
IIR 15-459
Financial vs. Non-Financial Rewards for Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Paul L. Hebert, PhD BA
VA Puget Sound Health Care System Seattle Division, Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA
Funding Period: February 2017 - July 2021
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
Behavioral economics suggests that our chronic inability to make the daily behavioral changes that can help us lose weight may be the result of "present bias," which is a tendency to value small, immediate rewards over large rewards in the distant future. Patient rewards may overcome present bias by moving the rewards for healthy behaviors forward in time. In a patient reward program, patients are given tangible, timely rewards for achieving specific health goals, such as losing one pound per week over 16 weeks. Meta analyses of randomized trials have found that rewards for weight loss are effective during the reward period, but the weight loss was not sustained after the reward was removed. Thus, the key challenge to a reward program is not achieving weight loss, but maintaining it. The proposed study tests the hypothesis that the significant weight regain found in prior reward trials can be attributed to use of financial rewards-e.g., cash or the equivalent of cash-in those trials. Experiments in behavioral economics have found that providing subjects with financial rewards for participating in a study invokes behavior defined by reciprocity-the effort the subjects gave in the study was proportional to the amount of money that they were given. When subjects were given non-financial rewards, they exhibited no reciprocity-the effort was consistently high and did not vary with the quantity of the non-financial reward. By using financial rewards, prior trials may have invoked money-market norms of reciprocity, such that patients' efforts toward weight loss were high when rewards were offered, and reduced when they were discontinued. We hypothesize that non-financial rewards, like tickets to a Seattle Mariners baseball game, will not invoke reciprocity or the consequent weight regain.

OBJECTIVE(S):
The goal of this study is to test, through a randomized trial, the effectiveness of providing overweight Veterans with financial or non-financial rewards for a one pound weight loss per week over 16 weeks. The primary outcome is weight loss at 32 weeks-16 weeks after the discontinuation of the rewards. Secondary outcomes include weight loss at 16 weeks and 12 months.

METHODS:
We will conduct a three-armed randomized trial of patient rewards for losing one pound per week over 16 weeks. The three treatment groups will receive financial rewards, non-financial rewards, or no rewards. We hypothesize that: 1) patients who receive non-financial rewards for weight loss over 16 weeks will have greater weight loss at 32 weeks than patients who do not receive rewards; 2) patients who receive non-financial rewards for weight loss over 16 weeks will experience weight loss at 16 weeks that is not inferior to the weight loss of patients who receive financial rewards; and 3) weight regain will be greater among patients who received financial rewards compared to patients who received non-financial rewards or no rewards. We will also conduct post-intervention qualitative interviews and perform a cost analysis.

FINDINGS/RESULTS:
We expect to have preliminary findings in the next 9 months.

IMPACT:
Three of every four Veterans are overweight or obese, and weight loss is associated with reduced morbidity and mortality. This proposed study will test whether a patient reward program that gives Veterans non-financial rewards, for losing one pound per week over 16 weeks is effective. An effective patient-incentive program could help more Veterans lose weight without requiring a substantial increase in VA staff. A sub-analysis will include digital scales and wireless scales.


External Links for this Project

NIH Reporter

Grant Number: I01HX002123-01A1
Link: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9190501

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PUBLICATIONS:

None at this time.


DRA: Diabetes and Other Endocrine Disorders, Health Systems
DRE: Treatment - Comparative Effectiveness, TRL - Applied/Translational
Keywords: Comparative Effectiveness, Gender Differences, Health Promotion and Education
MeSH Terms: none

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