Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32446752›Full record

Trial reportAmerican journal of preventive medicine2020

Adding Financial Incentives to Online Group-Based Behavioral Weight Control: An RCT.

Delia S West, Rebecca A Krukowski, Eric A Finkelstein, Melissa L Stansbury, Doris E Ogden, Courtney M Monroe, Chelsea A Carpenter, Shelly Naud, Jean R Harvey

Registry-linked trialOpen access · greenAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in American journal of preventive medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02688621 (Internet Assisted Obesity Treatment Enhanced With Financial Incentives), which is not on this map. Cited by 24 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
5.9field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT02688621 nacompletednot on this map

Internet Assisted Obesity Treatment Enhanced With Financial Incentives

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of VermontRan2016 to 2019Enrolled418ConditionsObesityArmsInternet Only, Internet + Incentives
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. 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 · 2026
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  11. Adherence to Behavioral Weight Management: A Scoping Review of Definitions, Measurement, and Components.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Delia S WestArnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. Electronic address: westds@mailbox.sc.edu.
Rebecca A KrukowskiDepartment of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, Tennessee.
Eric A FinkelsteinDuke-NUS Medical School and Duke University Global Health Institute, Singapore and Durham, North Carolina.
Melissa L StansburyArnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
Doris E OgdenDepartment of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.
Courtney M MonroeArnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
Chelsea A CarpenterArnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
Shelly NaudBiomedical Statistics, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.
Jean R HarveyDepartment of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.
University of South Carolina · USUniversity of Vermont · USDuke University · USUniversity of Tennessee Health Science Center · US

Funding

INTERNET SUPPORT FOR LONG-TERM WEIGHT MAINTENANCER01DK056746 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT &ST AGRIC COLLEGE · PI HARVEY, JEAN R, WEST, DELIA SMITH · 2000 to 2019
$10.6M
NIDDK NIH HHS R01 DK056746
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionInternet-delivered behavioral weight control is promising for expanding the reach and availability of weight management, but online programs produce lower weight losses than typically achieved in person. Financial incentives have been shown to increase weight losses. This study examined whether adding financial incentives for self-monitoring and achieving target weight losses increases weight losses attained in a fully online, group-based behavioral weight management program compared with the same program alone. STUDY

designThis study was an RCT. SETTING/

participantsAdults with overweight and obesity (n=418; 91% female; 28% minority) were recruited from 2 clinical centers.

interventionThe intervention was a 24-session online group-based behavioral weight control program with weekly synchronous chat sessions (Internet-only) or the same program with weekly financial incentives for self-monitoring body weight and dietary intake daily and for achieving target weight losses at 2 and 6 months (Internet + incentives).

main outcome measuresThis study measured weight loss at 6 months and treatment engagement (attendance, self-monitoring of body weight, dietary intake, and physical activity). Data were collected between February 2016 and August 2018, and analyses were completed in 2019.

resultsParticipants randomized to the Internet + incentives group lost more weight (-6.4 [SD=5.5] kg) than those in the Internet-only group (-4.7 [SD=6.6] kg; p<0.01). Further, a higher proportion of the Internet + incentives group achieved ≥5% weight loss (55%) than those in the Internet-only group (40%; p<0.05). Treatment engagement was higher in the Internet + incentives condition, with greater self-monitoring of behaviors targeted by incentives, as well as higher rates of behaviors not targeted and higher self-reported physical activity. Study retention was higher among those in the Internet + incentives condition (91%) than those in the Internet-only condition (81%; p=0.003).

conclusionsAdding financial incentives to a program delivered fully online increases weight losses compared with the program alone and can achieve weight losses comparable to in-person programs, offering potential for substantial geographic reach.

trial registrationThis study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT02688621.

Indexed as

MotivationWeight Reduction ProgramsAdultBody WeightFemaleHumansInternetMaleObesityWeight Loss

Identifiers

PMID32446752
PMCPMC8510645
OpenAlexW3028196062

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

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.