Clinical trial NCT02903849: Using Self-Motivating Messages to Encourage People to Exercise More
Official title: Using Self-Motivating Messages to Encourage People to Exercise More
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Physical Activity
Lead sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of California, Los Angeles
First posted: 2016-09-16
Enrollment: 324
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The investigators are interested in using personalized, self-motivating messages to motivate people to exercise more.

Detailed description: The investigators are interested in using personalized, self-motivating messages to motivate people to exercise more. Through a partnership with a university, the investigators are running a large-scale, randomized field controlled trial aimed at increasing exercise frequencies during a 100-day challenge. The primary purpose of this study is to test whether sending people motivating messages they wrote to themselves in the past can keep them engaged in the challenge and motivate them to exercise more frequently. One week into the challenge, employees who have signed up for the challenge will receive an email inviting them to participate in a short activity. Employees who click on the link will be directed to a survey. Once they finish reading the first introductory page and click "next", they will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the control group, employees will be encouraged to write down what they think will motivate them to walk more after 20, 50, and 90 days into the Challenge. These employees will receive standard reminders on the 20th, 50th, and 90th day of the challenge. In the treatment group, employees will be encouraged to write down motivating messages that they will receive on the 20th, 50th, and 90th day of the Challenge.

All employees who are exposed to either the control or the treatment condition will be included in the analysis.

The investigators plan to explore moderators based on (a) employees' demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, position), (b) employees' participation in previous challenges, and (c) employees' health condition and fitness level prior to the challenge (such as how actively they have been participating in other wellness activities, their health statistics).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Employees who click on the link inviting them to participate in an activity and are assigned to either the treatment or control condition

Primary outcomes:
measure: Activity Level
timeFrame: Through study completion, 100 days
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Body Mass Index (BMI)
timeFrame: After the 100-day challenge ends
measure: Cholesterol
timeFrame: After the 100-day challenge ends
measure: Blood Pressure
timeFrame: After the 100-day challenge ends
measure: Stress
timeFrame: After the 100-day challenge ends
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Saint Louis
country: United States
facility: Hengchen Dai
state: Missouri
Study officials:
affiliation: Washington University School of Medicine
name: Hengchen Dai, Ph.D
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: