Physical activity loyalty cards for behavior change: a quasi-experimental study.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Government initiatives in the UK and US advocate financial incentives for healthy lifestyles.
• Evidence supporting incentives for increasing physical activity (PA) is limited.
• Workplace PA interventions are crucial for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of financial incentives in enhancing PA among adult employees.
• To compare PA levels between a group receiving incentives and a control group using self-monitoring.

Main Methods:

• A 12-week, two-arm quasi-experimental study involving 406 employees in Belfast, UK.
• The intervention group received financial incentives (retail vouchers) for recorded PA minutes via a loyalty card system.
• The control group used the loyalty card for self-monitoring PA without incentives.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences in PA minutes were observed between the incentive and no-incentive groups at 12 weeks or 6 months.
• At 12 weeks, the incentive group averaged 17.52 min/week PA versus 16.63 min/week in the control group (p=0.59).
• At 6 months, the incentive group averaged 26.18 min/week PA versus 24.00 min/week in the control group (p=0.45).

Conclusions:

• Financial incentives did not lead to greater increases in physical activity compared to self-monitoring alone.
• The findings indicate that financial incentives may not be an effective strategy for promoting PA in a workplace setting.
• This research contributes to the evidence base on PA interventions and their implications for business partnerships.