Article | Text messages with financial incentives for men with obesity. A randomized clinical trial

Article

Text messages with financial incentives for men with obesity. A randomized clinical trial

Details

Citation

Hoddinott P, O'Dolan C, Macaulay L, Dombrowski S, Swingler J, Cotton S, Avenell A, Getaneh A, Gray C, Hunt K, Kee F, MacLean A, McKinley M, Torrens C, Turner K, van der Pol M & MacLennan G (2024) Text messages with financial incentives for men with obesity. A randomized clinical trial. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2024.7064

Abstract
Importance: Effective weight loss interventions are needed for men with obesity. Objective : To determine whether an intervention that combined text messaging with financial incentives attained significant weight loss at the 12-month follow-up compared with the control group and whether an intervention of text messaging alone attained significant weight loss at the 12-month follow-up compared with the control group. Design, Setting, and Participants: An assessor-blinded randomized clinical trial conducted in Belfast, Bristol, and Glasgow areas in the UK. A total of 585 men with body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more were enrolled between July 2021 and May 2022. Final follow-up occurred June 2023. Interventions: Participants were randomly assigned to 12 months of behavioral focused text messages combined with financial incentives (n?=?196), 12 months of behavioral focused text messages alone (n=?194), or a waiting list (control group; n=?195). The financial incentive consisted of a monetary reward that was lost if weight loss targets were not met. All participants received weight management information and a pedometer at baseline. Main Outcomes and Measures: The 2 primary comparisons were the 12-month comparison of within-participant weight change between the text messaging with financial incentive group and the control group and the comparison between the text messaging alone group and the control group (minimum clinically important difference, 3%). The P value defined for statistical significance was P?

Notes
Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Online

Journal
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)