An interventional study of Monetary Incentives in Physical Inactivity, sponsored by Brown University. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-01.
Sponsored by Brown University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial to test financial incentive programs (versus control) to promote physical activity among 330 adults who have a YMCA membership. Participants will have the opportunity to earn up to $100 or $200 (depending on the condition they are assigned to) for attending at least 50 sessions at the YMCA over 6 months. Participants will have two 6-month windows during which they will have the opportunity to earn the incentive. In addition to the incentives, participants will complete research assessments every 3 months.
332 studies on the registry are indexed under Sedentary Behavior; 155 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 339 is above the median of 70 across 287 interventional studies indexed under Sedentary Behavior.
Browse Sedentary Behavior studies →Brown University is the lead sponsor of 282 studies on the registry; 42 are open to participants now.
Of its 25 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 18 (72%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
A current member, or willing to become a current member of one of the following branches of the YMCA:
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants are offered an incentive of $100 to complete 50 exercise sessions at the YMCA within 6 months (Description of incentive 1)
Behavioral: Monetary Incentives
Participants are offered an incentive of $100 to complete 50 exercise sessions at the YMCA within 6 months (Description of incentive 2).
Behavioral: Monetary Incentives
Participants are offered an incentive of $200 to complete 50 exercise sessions at the YMCA within 6 months (Description of incentive 1).
Behavioral: Monetary Incentives
Participants are offered an incentive of $200 to complete 50 exercise sessions at the YMCA within 6 months (Description of incentive 2).
Behavioral: Monetary Incentives
Participants complete all assessments, and are eligible to receive compensation for participating in the research components of the study.
Monetary incentives, provided in the form of pre-loaded Visa debit cards are provided to encourage exercise.
Change in Number of YMCA visits
Number of sessions (max 1 per day) a person signs into the YMCA
Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months
Change in Accelerometry
Minutes of physical activity weighted by intensity, expressed in metabolic equivalent (MET) minutes per week as determined by accelerometers (Actigraph \[model wGT3x-BT\]) worn during one-week periods.
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Self-report physical activity (Godin)
Self-reported minutes of leisure time physical activity (inside and outside the YMCA) per week weighted by intensity
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Self-Reported Habit of Physical Activity Questionnaire
Measures a person's habits regarding exercise, with a minimum value of 1 and a maximum value of 7, higher scores indicate a stronger habit.
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Anticipated Regret Questionnaire
Measures a person's anticipated feelings of remorse if they do not do exercise, or achieve the incentives, on a scale from 1-11, with higher scores indicating more anticipated regret.
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Opportunity Questionnaire
Measures a person's opportunity to do regular aerobic physical activity, with scores ranging from 1-7, and higher scores indicating more opportunity for physical activity.
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Capability Questionnaire
Measures a person's physical and psychological capability to do regular aerobic physical activity with scores ranging from 1-7, and higher scores indicating more capability for physical activity.
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Exercise Facility Use Questionnaire
Measures access and membership to fitness facilities.
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Physical Activity Hedonic/Reflective Motivation
Measures the extent to which a person's motivation for physical activity is rooted in reflective and/or hedonic processes. There are two subscales. The hedonic subscale ranges from 0-10, with higher scores indicating more hedonic motivation for physical activity. The reflective subscale ranges from 0-10 with higher scores indicating more reflective motivation for physical activity.
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Subjective Social Status
Measures a person's perception of their subjective social status
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Reward Responsiveness
Measures the extent to which a person is responsive to external rewards
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Consideration of Future Consequences
Measures the extent to which a person considers the future (delayed) consequences of their actions
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Delay Discounting
Measures the extent to which a person discounts future rewards and prioritizes immediate rewards
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Loss Aversion
Measures the extent to which a person chooses actions in an attempt to avoid experiencing losses
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Overall Health (SF-12 Survey)
Measures a person's perception of their overall health and quality of life, scores range from 1-5 with higher scores indicating poorer health outcomes.
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Quality of Life and Health Status (EQ-5D-5L)
The EQ-5D-5L comprises a short descriptive system questionnaire and a visual analogue scale (EQ VAS) that are cognitively undemanding, taking only a few minutes to complete. The questionnaire provides a simple descriptive profile of a respondent's health state. The EQ VAS provides an alternative way to elicit an individual's rating of their own overall current health. When the descriptive system profile is linked to a 'value set', a single summary index value for health status is derived that can be used in economic evaluations of health-care interventions. A value set provides values (weights) for each health state description according to the preferences of the general population of a country/region. Value sets for the EQ-5D-5L and 3L versions are available in a large and growing number of countries.
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Change in Absenteeism and Presenteeism
Measures the amount of time a person worked and was expected to work in the past 7-28 days; and their perceived job performance when at work
Time frame: Measured at baseline, and months 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.
Plan to share: Yes — De-identified data will be shared with interested parties after all of the initial study analyses and outcomes have been published.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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