ArticleBMJ open2024
Qualitative study of perceptions of factors contributing to success or failure among participants in a US weight loss trial of financial incentives and environmental change strategies.
Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02878343 (A Randomized Controlled Trial of Incentives Versus Environmental Strategies for Weight Loss), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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.
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Incentives Versus Environmental Strategies for Weight Loss
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Examining preferences for weight loss interventions among black men and women with overweight or obesity: A qualitative study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Design and baseline characteristics of an implementation study to increase activity with social incentives: The STEP together trial.Contemporary clinical trials · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe use of financial incentives and environmental change strategies to encourage health behaviour change is increasingly prevalent. However, the experiences of participants in incentive interventions are not well characterised. Examination of participant perceptions of financial incentives and environmental strategies can offer insights about how these interventions are facilitating or failing to encourage behaviour change.
objectiveThis study aimed to learn how participants in a randomised trial that tested financial incentives and environmental interventions to support weight loss perceived factors contributing to their success or failure in the trial.
designQualitative study with one-time interviews of trial participants with high and low success in losing weight, supplemented by study records of incentive payments and weight loss.
participants24 trial participants (12 with substantial weight loss and 12 with no weight loss) stratified equally across the 4 trial arms (incentives, environmental strategies, combined and usual care) were interviewed. ANALYTICAL APPROACH: Transcribed interviews were coded and interpreted using an iterative process. Explanation development was completed using an abductive approach.
resultsResponses of trial participants who were very successful in losing weight differed in several ways from those who were not. Successful participants described more robust prior attempts at dietary and exercise modification, more active engagement with self-limitations, more substantial social support and a greater ability to routinise dietary and exercise changes than did participants who did not lose weight. Successful participants often stated that weight loss was its own reward, even without receiving incentives. Neither group could articulate the details of the incentive intervention or consistently differentiate incentives from study payments.
conclusionsA number of factors distinguished successful from unsuccessful participants in this intervention. Participants who were successful tended to attribute their success to intrinsic motivation and prior experience. Making incentives more salient may make them more effective for participants with greater extrinsic motivation. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02878343.
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