Trial reportBMJ open2020
Effect of a financial incentive (shopping point) on increasing the number of daily walking steps among community-dwelling adults in Japan: a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Behavioral Economic Incentive Programs for Goal Achievement on Healthy Diet, Weight Control and Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2023Pooled it
- One-Year Trajectory of Step Counts and Weight Loss in Adults With Overweight/Obesity: Retrospective Cohort Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Effects of Mobile Health Care App "Asmile" on Physical Activity of 80,689 Users in Osaka Prefecture, Japan: Longitudinal Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
- Cadence-Based Pedometer App With Financial Incentives to Enhance Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity: Development and Single-Arm Feasibility Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Review
- 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
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a financial incentive on the number of daily walking steps among community-dwelling adults in Japan. STUDY
designTwo-arm, parallel-group randomised controlled trial. SETTING/
participantsWe recruited physically inactive community-dwelling adults from Sendai city, Japan. Eligible participants were randomly allocated to an intervention or a wait list control group. Pedometers were used to assess the mean number of daily steps in three periods: baseline (weeks 1-3), intervention (weeks 4-6) and follow-up (weeks 7-9).
interventionThe intervention group was offered a financial incentive (shopping points) to meet the target number of increased daily steps in the intervention period.
main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was an increase in the mean number of daily steps in the intervention and follow-up periods compared with baseline.
resultsSeventy-two participants (69.4% women; mean age, 61.2±16.2 years; mean number of daily steps at baseline, 6364±2804) were randomised to the intervention (n=36) and control groups (n=36). During the intervention period, the increase in mean daily steps was significantly higher in the intervention group (1650, 95% CI=1182 to 2119) than in the control group (514, 95% CI=136 to 891; p<0.001). However, the difference between groups was not significant at follow-up after the incentives were removed (p=0.311). In addition, compared with controls, a significantly higher proportion of participants in the intervention group showed an increase in mean daily steps of ≥1000 (69.4% vs 30.6%, respectively; OR=5.17, 95% CI=1.89 to 14.08). There were no adverse effects from the intervention.
conclusionsThe present results suggest that financial incentives are effective in promoting short-term increases in physical activity. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: UMIN000033276.
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.