Individual-versus group-based financial incentives for weight loss, A randomized, controlled trial

Annals of Internal Medicine

Volumn 158, Issue 7, 2013, Pages 505-514

  Kullgren, Jeffrey T ^a   Troxel, Andrea B ^b   Loewenstein, George ^c   Asch, David A ^d   Norton, Laurie A ^b   Wesby, Lisa ^b   Tao, Yuanyuan ^b   Zhu, Jingsan ^b   Volpp, Kevin G ^b  

^a VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA   (United States)

^c CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; BODY MASS; CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS; CONTROLLED STUDY; FEMALE; FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT; FOLLOW UP; HUMAN; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; OBESITY; PARALLEL DESIGN; PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT; PRIORITY JOURNAL; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL; WEIGHT REDUCTION;

ADULT; BEHAVIOR THERAPY; BODY MASS INDEX; EMPLOYEE INCENTIVE PLANS; FEMALE; GROUP PROCESSES; HEALTH BEHAVIOR; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; MOTIVATION; OBESITY; REWARD; WEIGHT LOSS;

EID: 84875710328     PISSN: 00034819     EISSN: 15393704     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-158-7-201304020-00002     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among US adults, 1999-2010. JAMA. 2012;307:491-7.
2. Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2004;291:1238-45.
3. Stewart ST, Cutler DM, Rosen AB. Forecasting the effects of obesity and smoking on U.S. life expectancy. N Engl J Med. 2009;361:2252-60.
4. Finkelstein EA, Brown DS, Wrage LA, Allaire BT, Hoerger TJ. Individual and aggregate years-of-life lost associated with overweight and obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010;18:333-9.
5. Finkelstein E, Fiebelkorn LC, Wang G. The costs of obesity among full-time employees. Am J Health Promot. 2005;20:45-51.
6. Finkelstein EA, Trogdon JG, Cohen JW, Dietz W. Annual medical spending attributable to obesity: payer-and service-specific estimates. Health Aff (Mill-wood). 2009;28:w822-31.
7. Finkelstein EA, Fiebelkorn IC, Wang G. State-level estimates of annual med-ical expenditures attributable to obesity. Obes Res. 2004;12:18-24.
8. Finkelstein EA, Trogdon JG, Brown DS, Allaire BT, Dellea PS, Kamal-Bahl SJ. The lifetime medical cost burden of overweight and obesity: implications for obesity prevention. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008;16:1843-8.
9. Cai L, Lubitz J, Flegal KM, Pamuk ER. The predicted effects of chronic obesity in middle age on medicare costs and mortality. Med Care. 2010;48: 510-7.
10. Schroeder SA. Shattuck Lecture. We can do better-improving the health of the American people. N Engl J Med. 2007;357:1221-8.
11. Towers Watson, National Business Group on Health. The Road Ahead: Shaping Health Care Strategy in a Post-Reform Environment. 16th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Pur-chasing Value in Health Care. Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health; 2011. Accessed at www.towerswatson.com/assets/pdf/3946/TowersWatson-NBGH-2011-NA-2010-18560.pdf on 4 February 2013.
12. Claxton G, DiJulio B, Whitmore H, Pickreign J, McHugh M, Finder B, et al. Job-based health insurance: costs climb at a moderate pace. Health Aff (Millwood). 2009;28:w1002-12.
13. Heinen L, Darling H. Addressing obesity in the workplace: the role of employers. Milbank Q. 2009;87:101-22.
14. Finkelstein EA, Linnan LA, Tate DF, Birken BE. A pilot study testing the effect of different levels of financial incentives on weight loss among overweight employees. J Occup Environ Med. 2007;49:981-9.
15. Volpp KG, John LK, Troxel AB, Norton L, Fassbender J, Loewenstein G. Financial incentive-based approaches for weight loss: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2008;300:2631-7.
16. John LK, Loewenstein G, Troxel AB, Norton L, Fassbender JE, Volpp KG. Financial incentives for extended weight loss: a randomized, controlled trial. J Gen Intern Med. 2011;26:621-6.
17. Jeffery RW. Financial incentives and weight control. Prev Med. 2012; 55(Suppl):S61-7.
18. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Aim for a Healthy Weight. Bethesda, MD: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; 2005. Accessed at www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/aim_hwt.pdf on 4 February 2013.
19. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Talking With Patients About Weight Loss: Tips for Primary Care Professionals. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; 2005. Accessed at http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/PDFs/TalkingWPAWL.pdf on 4 February 2013.
20. Ryan DH, Espeland MA, Foster GD, Haffner SM, Hubbard VS, Johnson KC, et al; Look AHEAD Research Group. Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes): design and methods for a clinical trial of weight loss for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes. Control Clin Trials. 2003;24:610-28.
21. Department of Labor, Department of Treasury, Department of Health and Human Services. Nondiscrimination and wellness programs in health coverage in the group market. Fed Regist. 2006;71:75014-55.
22. Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjöström M, Bauman AE, Booth ML, Ainsworth BE, et al. International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35:1381-95.
23. Anglé S, Engblom J, Eriksson T, Kautiainen S, Saha MT, Lindfors P, et al. Three factor eating questionnaire-R18 as a measure of cognitive restraint, uncon-trolled eating and emotional eating in a sample of young Finnish females. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2009;6:41.
24. de Lauzon B, Romon M, Deschamps V, Lafay L, Borys JM, Karlsson J, et al; Fleurbaix Laventie Ville Sante Study Group. The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18 is able to distinguish among different eating patterns in a general population. J Nutr. 2004;134:2372-80.
25. Little RJA, Rubin DB. Statistical Analysis with Missing Data, 2nd ed. Hobo-ken, NJ: J Wiley; 2002.
26. Summary: weighing the options-criteria for evaluating weight-management programs. Committee to Develop Criteria for Evaluating the Outcomes of Ap-proaches to Prevent and Treat Obesity Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. J Am Diet Assoc. 1995;95:96-105.
27. Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults-The Evidence Report. National Institutes of Health. Obes Res. 1998;6(Suppl 2):51S-209S.
28. Butsch WS, Ard JD, Allison DB, Patki A, Henson CS, Rueger MM, et al. Effects of a reimbursement incentive on enrollment in a weight control program. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007;15:2733-8.
29. Forster JL, Jeffery RW, Sullivan S, Snell MK. A work-site weight control program using financial incentives collected through payroll deduction. J Occup Med. 1985;27:804-8.
30. Hubbert KA, Bussey BF, Allison DB, Beasley TM, Henson CS, Heim-burger DC. Effects of outcome-driven insurance reimbursement on short-term weight control. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003;27:1423-9.
31. Jeffery RW, Wing RR. Long-term effects of interventions for weight loss using food provision and monetary incentives. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1995;63: 793-6.
32. Jeffery RW, Wing RR, Thorson C, Burton LR, Raether C, Harvey J, et al. Strengthening behavioral interventions for weight loss: a randomized trial of food provision and monetary incentives. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1993;61:1038-45.
33. Lahiri S, Faghri PD. Cost-effectiveness of a workplace-based incentivized weight loss program. J Occup Environ Med. 2012;54:371-7.
34. Morgan PJ, Collins CE, Plotnikoff RC, Cook AT, Berthon B, Mitchell S, et al. Efficacy of a workplace-based weight loss program for overweight male shift workers: the Workplace POWER (Preventing Obesity Without Eating like a Rabbit) randomized controlled trial. Prev Med. 2011;52:317-25.
35. Relton C, Strong M, Li J. The 'Pounds for Pounds' weight loss financial incentive scheme: an evaluation of a pilot in NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent. J Public Health (Oxf). 2011;33:536-42.
36. Seidman LS, Sevelius GG, Ewald P. A cost-effective weight loss program at the worksite. J Occup Med. 1984;26:725-30.
37. Swenson O. Are we all less risky and more skillful than our fellow drivers? Acta Psychologica. 1981;47:143-8.
38. Hoelzl E, Loewenstein G. Wearing out your shoes to prevent someone else from stepping into them: anticipated regret and social takeover in sequential decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2005;98:15-27.
39. Kahneman D, Tversky A. Prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica. 1979;47:263-92.
40. Connolly T, Butler D. Regret in economic and psychological theories of choice. J Behav Decis Mak. 2006;19:139-54.
41. Zeelenberg M, Pieters R. Consequences of regret aversion in real life: the case of the Dutch postcode lottery. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2004;93:155-68.
42. Asch DA, Muller RW, Volpp KG. Automated hovering in health care-watching over the 5000 hours. N Engl J Med. 2012;367:1-3.
43. Johnson F, Pratt M, Wardle J. Dietary restraint and self-regulation in eating behavior. Int J Obes (Lond). 2012;36:665-74.
44. Franz MJ, VanWormer JJ, Crain AL, Boucher JL, Histon T, Caplan W, et al. Weight-loss outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of weight-loss clinical trials with a minimum 1-year follow-up. J Am Diet Assoc. 2007;107: 1755-67.
45. Davis MJ, Addis ME. Predictors of attrition from behavioral medicine treat-ments. Ann Behav Med. 1999;21:339-49.
46. Honas JJ, Early JL, Frederickson DD, O'Brien MS. Predictors of attrition in a large clinic-based weight-loss program. Obes Res. 2003;11:888-94.
47. Teixeira PJ, Going SB, Houtkooper LB, Cussler EC, Metcalfe LL, Blew RM, et al. Pretreatment predictors of attrition and successful weight manage-ment in women. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004;28:1124-33.
48. Towers Watson. Health Care Changes Ahead. Philadelphia: Towers Watson; 2011. Accessed at www.towerswatson.com/assets/pdf/5622/TW-survey-report_HC-Changes-Ahead_101411.pdf on 4 February 2013.
49. Volpp KG, Asch DA, Galvin R, Loewenstein G. Redesigning employee health incentives-lessons from behavioral economics. N Engl J Med. 2011;365: 388-90.
50. Madison KM, Volpp KG, Halpern SD. The law, policy, and ethics of employers' use of financial incentives to improve health. J Law Med Ethics. 2011;39:450-68.