Obesity is an epidemic in the United States, and it is extremely costly to care for those with obesity related illnesses. Behavioral lifestyle interventios have been shown to successfully produce clinically significant weight losses and improve health. Internet- delivered weight control programs have been shown effective in producing clinically- significant weight losses, with the approach to web-based obesity treatment our research group has developed producing some of the largest weight losses reported in the literature to date. However, weight losses remain modest with online delivery, undercutting the potential impact of technology-enhanced delivery. Therefore, the overall goal of this project is to continue the work of our group in identifying strategies to enhance weight loss outcomes produced by an online-delivered behavioral program by examining the promising strategy of providing financial incentives within the context of treatment. We propose a randomized controlled trial to determine whether incorporating financial incentives increases the amount and duration of weight losses achieved by Internet-delivered behavioral treatment. A secondary, exploratory aim is to quantify the incremental cost-effectiveness of each intervention strategy compared to established cost-efficacy thresholds. Overweight and obese adults at two study sites (N=416; 27% minority) will randomized to: (1) Internet intervention; or 2) Internet intervention plus financial incentives for implementation of key self-management behaviors (daily self-weighing, self-monitoring of dietary intake and achieving step goals) (Internet+Incentives). All participants will receive the same 36- session web-based group weight control program which features synchronous, facilitated chats and online behavioral tools. Assessments will be conducted at 2, 6, 12- and 18 months and will include measures of body weight, treatment engagement (e.g., attendance, self-monitoring, website utilization, motivational factors, weight control behaviors) and treatment delivery cost.

Public Health Relevance

This project seeks to evaluate the use of financial incentives to enhance weight losses achieved in an on-line behavioral obesity treatment program. Additionally, the cost-effectiveness of financial incentives will be assessed. The outcomes of this project will be relevant for policy development and obesity treatment practitioners.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DK056746-15
Application #
9116829
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Kuczmarski, Robert J
Project Start
2000-02-01
Project End
2020-06-30
Budget Start
2016-07-01
Budget End
2017-06-30
Support Year
15
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Vermont & St Agric College
Department
Nutrition
Type
Earth Sciences/Resources
DUNS #
066811191
City
Burlington
State
VT
Country
United States
Zip Code
Krukowski, Rebecca A; West, Delia Smith; Priest, Jeffrey et al. (2018) The impact of the interventionist-participant relationship on treatment adherence and weight loss. Transl Behav Med :
Mench, Elise; West, Delia; Krukowski, Rebecca et al. (2018) Weight Loss Success of Participants Residing in Rural and Urban Areas. J Rural Health 34:396-400
Harvey, Jean; Dittus, Kim; Mench, Elise (2017) eHealth and behavioral weight loss interventions for female cancer survivors: A review. Womens Health (Lond) 13:80-88
Krukowski, Rebecca Anne; DiLillo, Vicki; Ingle, Krista et al. (2016) Design and Methods of a Synchronous Online Motivational Interviewing Intervention for Weight Management. JMIR Res Protoc 5:e69
West, Delia Smith; Harvey, Jean R; Krukowski, Rebecca A et al. (2016) Do individual, online motivational interviewing chat sessions enhance weight loss in a group-based, online weight control program? Obesity (Silver Spring) 24:2334-2340
Hutchesson, M J; Rollo, M E; Krukowski, R et al. (2015) eHealth interventions for the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Obes Rev 16:376-92
Rollo, Megan E; Hutchesson, Melinda J; Burrows, Tracy L et al. (2015) Video Consultations and Virtual Nutrition Care for Weight Management. J Acad Nutr Diet 115:1213-25
Harvey, Jean R; Ogden, Doris E (2014) Obesity treatment in disadvantaged population groups: where do we stand and what can we do? Prev Med 68:71-5
Krukowski, Rebecca A; Harvey-Berino, Jean; Bursac, Zoran et al. (2013) Patterns of success: online self-monitoring in a web-based behavioral weight control program. Health Psychol 32:164-70
Harvey-Berino, Jean; Krukowski, Rebecca A; Buzzell, Paul et al. (2011) The accuracy of weight reported in a web-based obesity treatment program. Telemed J E Health 17:696-9

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