Framing Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Adults
Authors: Mitesh S. Patel, David A. Asch, Kevin G. Volpp
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2016)

Letters18 October 2016Framing Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese AdultsMitesh S. Patel, MD, MBA, MS, David A. Asch, MD, MBA, and Kevin G. Volpp, MD, PhDMitesh S. Patel, MD, MBA, MSFrom Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., David A. Asch, MD, MBAFrom Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., and Kevin G. Volpp, MD, PhDFrom Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L16-0280 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:Drs. Weinstock and Petry note that behavior change is complex and reinforcement is an important component of interventions to increase physical activity. Although we agree with these comments, our study focused on the effect of different ways to frame financial incentives. Our findings show that, holding reinforcement constant, financial incentives framed as a loss were most effective. A prior study by Drs. Weinstock and Petry revealed important insights but should be compared with our study with caution, because theirs was smaller, did not target overweight and obese adults, used a different step goal, and had a different primary ...References1. Petry NM, Andrade LF, Barry D, Byrne S. A randomized study of reinforcing ambulatory exercise in older adults. Psychol Aging. 2013;28:1164-73. [PMID: 24128075] doi:10.1037/a0032563 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Garber CE, Blissmer B, Deschenes MR, Franklin BA, Lamonte MJ, Lee IM, et al; American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011;43:1334-59. [PMID: 21694556] doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e318213fefb CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Bravata DM, Smith-Spangler C, Sundaram V, Gienger AL, Lin N, Lewis R, et al. Using pedometers to increase physical activity and improve health: a systematic review. JAMA. 2007;298:2296-304. [PMID: 18029834] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Case MA, Burwick HA, Volpp KG, Patel MS. Accuracy of smartphone applications and wearable devices for tracking physical activity data. JAMA. 2015;313:625-6. [PMID: 25668268] doi:10.1001/jama.2014.17841 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M15-1635. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoFraming Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Adults Mitesh S. Patel , David A. Asch , Roy Rosin , Dylan S. Small , Scarlett L. Bellamy , Jack Heuer , Susan Sproat , Chris Hyson , Nancy Haff , Samantha M. Lee , Lisa Wesby , Karen Hoffer , David Shuttleworth , Devon H. Taylor , Victoria Hilbert , Jingsan Zhu , Lin Yang , Xingmei Wang , and Kevin G. Volpp Framing Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Adults Jeremiah Weinstock and Nancy M. Petry Framing Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Adults Marc S. Mitchell and Paul I. 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Identifying and Testing the Predictive Power of Time Preference Over Unhealthy Behaviours 18 October 2016Volume 165, Issue 8Page: 600KeywordsBehaviorBehavioral economicsDisclosureExerciseMotivationOverweightSports and exercise medicine ePublished: 18 October 2016 Issue Published: 18 October 2016 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2016 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...