SynthesisPloS one2018
Financial incentives for objectively-measured physical activity or weight loss in adults with chronic health conditions: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Enhancing Weight Loss Programs: A Meta-Analysis of Financial Incentives and Behavior Change Techniques.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- Do physical activity interventions combining self-monitoring with other components provide an additional benefit compared with self-monitoring alone? A systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of sports medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Incentives for Improving Diabetes-Related Health Indicators in Chronic Disease Lifestyle Modification Programs: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Preventing chronic disease · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Effectiveness of Goal-Directed and Outcome-Based Financial Incentives for Weight Loss in Primary Care Patients With Obesity Living in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Neighborhoods: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA internal medicine · 2023Trial
- Adding Financial Incentives to Online Group-Based Behavioral Weight Control: An RCT.American journal of preventive medicine · 2020Trial
- Feasibility and Acceptability of a Novel Behavioral Economic Coaching Session to Address Physical Activity and TV Watching: An Open Pilot Trial.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- KArAT (Knee Arthroplasty Activity Trial): Rationale and design features of a multicenter randomized controlled trial.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2025Article
- An mHealth Intervention With Financial Incentives to Promote Smoking Cessation and Physical Activity Among Black Adults: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Hourly step recommendations to achieve daily goals for working and older adults.Communications medicine · 2024Article
- Evaluation of intervention components to maximize yoga practice among people with chronic pain taking opioid agonist therapy: A factorial experiment using the multiphase optimization strategy framework.Contemporary clinical trials · 2024Article
- Effects of Mobile-Based Financial Incentive Interventions for Adults at Risk of Developing Hypertension: Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Examining Ways to Improve Weight Control Programs' Population Reach and Representativeness: A Discrete Choice Experiment of Financial Incentives.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2022Article
- Totally Excited about Moving Mobility and Exercise (TEAM MChildren (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Outcomes of a culturally informed weight-loss competition for New Zealand Indigenous and Pacific peoples: a quasi-experimental trial.BMC nutrition · 2021Article
- Article
- Randomized clinical trial of exercise for nontreatment seeking adults with alcohol use disorder.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2020Article
- Effects of Bluetooth-Enabled Desk Ellipticals on Office Work Performance: Rationale, Design, and Protocol for a Randomized Trial With Overweight and Obese Adults.JMIR research protocols · 2020Article
- Changing health behaviours in rheumatology: an introduction to behavioural economics.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2020Review
- Financial Incentives to Promote Physical Activity in Japan: A Rapid Review.Journal of primary care & community healthReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveWe conducted a meta-analysis and systematic review of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the impact of financial incentives (FI) on objectively-measured physical activity (PA) and weight loss (WL) in adults with sedentary behavior or chronic health conditions. EVIDENCE REVIEW: We performed a systematic search for RCTs published in English indexed in PubMed, Embase, or Web of Science through July 27, 2017. We limited our search to RCTs that involved an FI intervention with a monetary component, objectively-measured PA or WL outcomes, samples with either sedentary lifestyles or chronic health conditions, and a comparator group that did not receive performance-contingent FI. We calculated the mean difference and standardized mean difference (SMD) for each study and used a random effects model to summarize intervention efficacy. We used the Jadad scoring tool to assess the quality of the identified articles.
resultsWe abstracted data from 11 RCTs. Two of the 11 included studies focused on PA, totaling 126 intervention and 116 control subjects. Nine RCTs evaluated the effect of FI on WL, totaling 1,799 intervention and 1,483 control subjects. The combined estimate for change in daily steps was 940 (95%CI [306-1,574]) more in PA intervention groups than in control groups and 2.36 (95%CI [1.80-2.93]) more kilograms lost by WL intervention groups compared to control groups. The overall estimated SMD for both outcomes combined was 0.395 (95%CI [0.243-0.546; p<0.001]), favoring FI interventions.
conclusionFI interventions are efficacious in increasing PA and WL in adults with chronic conditions or sedentary adults. Public health programs to increase PA or prevent chronic disease should consider incorporating FI to improve outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.