Background
Financial incentives have been advocated by the UK and U.S. governments to encourage
adoption of healthy lifestyles. However, evidence to support the use of incentives
for changing physical activity (PA) behavior is sparse.
Purpose
To investigate the effectiveness of financial incentives to increase PA in adults
in the workplace.
Design
Two-arm quasi-experimental design.
Setting/participants
Employees (n=406) in a workplace setting in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
Intervention
Using a loyalty card to collect points and earn rewards, participants (n=199) in the Incentive Group monitored their PA levels and received financial incentives
(retail vouchers) for minutes of PA completed over the course of a 12-week intervention
period. Participants (n=207) in the comparison group used their loyalty card to self-monitor their PA levels
but were not able to earn points or obtain incentives (No Incentive Group).
Main outcome measures
The primary outcome was minutes of PA objectively measured using a novel PA tracking
system at baseline (April 2011); Week 6 (June 2011); and Week 12 (July 2011). Other
outcomes, including a self-report measure of PA, were collected at baseline, Week
12, and 6 months (October 2011). Data were analyzed in June 2012.
Results
No significant differences between groups were found for primary or secondary outcomes
at the 12-week and 6-month assessments. Participants in the Incentive Group recorded
17.52 minutes of PA/week (95% CI=12.49, 22.56) compared to 16.63 minutes/week (95%
CI=11.76, 21.51) in the No Incentive Group at Week 12 (p=0.59). At 6 months, participants in the Incentive Group recorded 26.18 minutes of
PA/week (95% CI=20.06, 32.29) compared to 24.00 minutes/week (95% CI=17.45, 30.54)
in the No Incentive Group (p=0.45).
Conclusions
Financial incentives did not encourage participants to undertake more PA than self-monitoring
PA. This study contributes to the evidence base and has important implications for
increasing participation in physical activity and fostering links with the business
sector.
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© 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
