Adaptive Goals and Reinforcement Timing to Increase Physical Activity in Adults: A Factorial Randomized Trial

Potent lifestyle interventions to increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity are urgently needed for population-level chronic disease prevention. This trial tested the independent and joint effects of a mobile health system automating adaptive goal setting and immediate financial reinforcement...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of preventive medicine 2022-02, Vol.62 (2), p.e57-e68
Main Authors: Adams, Marc A., Todd, Michael, Angadi, Siddhartha S., Hurley, Jane C., Stecher, Chad, Berardi, Vincent, Phillips, Christine B., McEntee, Mindy L., Hovell, Melbourne F., Hooker, Steven P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Exercise
Female
Goals
Humans
Male
Motivation
Sedentary Behavior
Walking
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Summary:Potent lifestyle interventions to increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity are urgently needed for population-level chronic disease prevention. This trial tested the independent and joint effects of a mobile health system automating adaptive goal setting and immediate financial reinforcement for increasing daily walking among insufficiently active adults. Participants were randomized into a 2 (adaptive versus static goal setting) X 2 (immediate versus delayed financial incentive timing) condition factorial trial to increase walking. Participants (N=512 adults) were recruited between 2016 and 2018 and were 64.5% female, aged 18–60 years, 18.8% Hispanic, 6.1% African American, and 83% White. Principles of reinforcement and behavioral economics directed intervention design. Participants wore accelerometers daily (133,876 day-level observations) that remotely measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity bout minutes of ≥3 minutes/day for 1 year. Primary outcomes were between-condition differences in (1) engaging ≥1 bout of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on each day and (2) on days with ≥1 bout, daily total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity minutes. Mixed-effects hurdle models tested treatment group X phase (time) interactions using an intent-to-treat approach in 2021. Engaging in any ambulatory moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was greater for Adaptive than for Static Goal groups (OR=2.34, 95% CI=2.10, 2.60 vs OR=1.66, 95% CI=1.50, 1.84; p
ISSN:0749-3797
1873-2607
1873-2607
DOI:10.1016/j.amepre.2021.09.014