Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2021

Open Access 01-12-2021 | Research article

Effects of social network incentives and financial incentives on physical activity and social capital among older women: a randomized controlled trial

Authors: Ryo Yamashita, Shinji Sato, Ryoichi Akase, Tatsuo Doi, Shigeki Tsuzuku, Toyohiko Yokoi, Shingo Otsuki, Eisaku Harada

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2021

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Financial incentives have been used to increase physical activity. However, the benefit of financial incentives is lost when an intervention ends. Thus, for this study, we combined social network incentives that leverage the power of peer pressure with financial incentives. Few reports have examined the impact of physical activity on social capital. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to ascertain whether a combination of two incentives could lead to more significant changes in physical activity and social capital during and after an intervention.

Methods

The participants were 39 older women over 65 years of age in Kumamoto, Japan. The participants were randomly divided into a financial incentive group (FI group) and a social network incentive plus financial incentive group (SNI + FI group). Both groups underwent a three-month intervention. Measurements of physical activity and social capital were performed before and after the intervention. Additionally, the effects of the incentives on physical activity and social capital maintenance were measured 6 months postintervention. The financial incentive group received a payment ranging from US$4.40 to US$6.20 per month, depending on the number of steps taken during the intervention. For the other group, we provided a social network incentive in addition to the financial incentive. The SNI + FI group walked in groups of three people to use the power of peer pressure.

Results

A two-way ANOVA revealed that in terms of physical activity, there was a statistically significant interaction between group and time (p = 0.017). The FI group showed no statistically significant improvement in physical activity during the observation period. In terms of the value of social capital, there was no significant interaction between group and time.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that social network incentives, in combination with financial incentives, are more effective for promoting physical activity than financial incentives alone among older women and that these effects can continue after an intervention. In the meantime, further studies should be conducted on the effect of physical activity on social capital.

Trial registration

UMIN000038080, registered on 09/22/2019 (Retrospectively registered).
Literature
1.
Rockhill B, Willett WC, Manson JE, Leitzmann MF, Stampfer MJ, Hunter DJ, et al. Physical activity and mortality: a prospective study among women. Am J Public Health. 2001;91(4):578–83.CrossRef
2.
Pate RR, Pratt M, Blair SN, Haskell WL, Macera CA, Bouchard C, et al. Physical activity and public health : A recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine. JAMA. 1995;273:402–7.CrossRef
3.
Li J, Siegrist J. Physical activity and risk of cardiovascular disease—a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2012;9(2):391–407.CrossRef
4.
Samitz G, Egger M, Zwahlen M. Domains of physical activity and all-cause mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies. Int J Epidemiol. 2011;40(5):1382–400.CrossRef
5.
Wong CH, Wong SF, Pang WS, Azizah MY, Dass MJ. Habitual walking and its correlation to better physical function: implications for prevention of physical disability in older persons. J Gerontol A Biol Sci. 2003;58(6):555–60.CrossRef
6.
Balboa-Castillo T, Leon-Munoz LM, Graciani A, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Guallar-Castillon P. Longitudinal association of physical activity and sedentary behavior during leisure time with health-related quality of life in community-dwelling older adults. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2011;9:47.CrossRef
7.
Bize R, Jhonson JA, Plotnikoff RC. Physical activity level and health-related quality of life in the general adult population: a systematic review. Prev Med. 2007;45(6):401–15.CrossRef
8.
Barnes DE, Whitmer RA, Yaffe K. Physical activity and dementia: the need for prevention trials. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2007;35(1):24–9.CrossRef
9.
Lautenschlager NT, Cox KL, Flicker L, Foster JK, van Bockxmeer FM, Xiao J, et al. Effect of physical activity on cognitive function in older adults at risk for Alzheimer disease: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2008;300(9):1027–37.CrossRef
10.
Dunn AL, Trivedi MH, Kampert JB, Clark CG, Chambliss HO. Exercise treatment for depression: efficacy and does response. Am J Prev Med. 2005;28(1):1–8.CrossRef
11.
Mather AS, Rodriguez C, Guthrie MF, McHarg AM, Reid IC, McMurdo ME. Effects of exercise on depressive symptoms in older adults with poorly responsive depressive disorder: randomized controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry. 2002;180:411–5.CrossRef
12.
Lee IM. Physical activity and cancer prevention--date from epiodemiologic studies. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35(11):1823–7.CrossRef
13.
Mc TA. Mechanisms linking physical activity with cancer. Nat Rev Cancer. 2008;8(3):205–11.CrossRef
14.
Ministry of Health, Labour, Welfare. A basic direction for comprehensive implementation of national health promotion. Ministerial Notification No.430 ?of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; 2012. P. 1–25.
15.
16.
Finkelstein EA, Brown DS, Brown DR, Buchner DM. A randomized study of financial incentives to increase physical activity among sedentary older adults. Prev Med. 2008;47(2):182–7.CrossRef
17.
Farooqui MA, Tan YT, Bilger M, Frinkelstein EA. Effects of financial incentives on motivating physical activity among older adults: results from a discrete choice experiment. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:141.CrossRef
18.
Deci EL, Koestner R, Ryan RM. A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychol Bull. 1999;125(6):627–68.CrossRef
19.
Carrera M, Royer H, Stehr M, Sydnor J. Can financial incentives help people trying to establish new habits? Experimental evidence with new gym members. J Health Econ. 2018;58:202–14.CrossRef
20.
Mani A, Rahwan I, Pentland A. Including peer pressure to promote cooperation. Sci Rep. 2013;3:1735.CrossRef
21.
Aharony N, Pan W, Ip C, Khayal I, Pentland A. Social fMRI: investigating and shaping social mechanisms in the real world. Pervasive Mobile Computing. 2011;7:643–59.CrossRef
22.
Brach JS, FitzGerald S, Newman AB, Kelsey S, Kuller L, VanSwearingen JM, et al. Physical activity and functional status in community-dwelling older women: a 14-year prospective study. Arch Inter Med. 2003;163:2565–71.CrossRef
23.
Aihie-Sayer A. D ennison EM, Syddall HE, Jameson K, Martin HJ, Cooper C. the developmental origins of sarcopenia: using peripheral quantitative computed tomography to assess muscle size in older people. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2008;63(8):835–40.CrossRef
24.
Berkman LF, Glass T. Social integration, social networks, social support, and health. In: Berkman LF, Kawachi I, editors. Social Epidemiology. New York: Oxford University Press; 2000. p. 137–73.
25.
Cohen S, Underwood LG, Gottlieb BH. Social support measurement and intervention: A guide for health and social scientists. New York: Oxford University Press; 1990.
26.
Durkheim E. Suicide: A study in sociology. Glencoe: Free Press 1897, 1951.
27.
28.
Deurenberg P, Weststrate JA, Seiedell JC. Body mass index as a measure of body fatness: age- and sex-specific prediction. Br J Nutr. 1991;65(2):105–14.CrossRef
29.
Yang K. Individual social capital and its measurement in social surveys. Survey Research Methods. 2007;1(1):19–27.
30.
Ueshima K, Fujiwara T, Takao S, Suzuki E, Iwase T, Doi H, et al. Does social capital promote physical activity? A population-based study in Japan. PLoS One. 2010;5(8):e12135.CrossRef
31.
Iwasa H, Masui Y, Inagaki H, Yoshida Y, Shimada H, Otsuka R, et al. Assessing competence at a higher level among older adults: development of the Japan Science and Technology Agency index of competence (JST-IC). Aging Clin Exp Res. 2018;30(4):383–93.CrossRef
32.
Iwasa H, Masui Y, Inagaki H, Yoshida Y, Shimada H, Otsuka R, et al. Development of the Japan Science and Technology Agency index of competence (JST-IC) to assess functional capacity in older adults: conceptual definitions and preliminary items. Gerontol Geriatr Med. 2015;1:233372145609490; doi: https://​doi.​org/​10.​1177/​2333721415609490​.
33.
34.
Charness G, Greezy U. Incentives to exercise. Econometrica. 2009;77(3):909–31.CrossRef
35.
Royer H, Stehr M, Sydnor J. Incentives, commitments, and habit formation in exercise: evidence from a field experiment with workers at a fortune-500 company. Am Econ J Appl Econ. 2015;7(3):51–84.CrossRef
36.
Moore S, Bockenholt U, Daniel M, Frohlich K, Kestens Y, Richard L. Social capital and core network ties: a validation study of individual-level social capital measures and their association with extra- and intra-neighborhood ties, and self-rated health. Health Place. 2011;17:536–44.CrossRef
37.
Ottesen L, Jeppesen RS, Krustrup R. The development of social capital through football and running: studying an intervention program for inactive women. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2010;20(1):118–31.CrossRef
38.
Putnam RD, Feldstein L. Better together. Restoring the American community. New York: Simon and Schuster; 2003.
39.
Rose R. How much does social capital add to individual health? A survey study of Russians. Soc Sci Med. 2000;51(9):1421–35.CrossRef
40.
Berry HL, Welsh JA. Social capital and health in Australia: an overview from the household, income and labour dynamics in Australia survey. Soc Sci Med. 2010;70(4):588–96.CrossRef
41.
Nieminen T, Martelin T, Koskinen S. Social capital as a determinant of self-rated health and psychological well- being. Int J Public Health. 2010;55(6):531–42.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Effects of social network incentives and financial incentives on physical activity and social capital among older women: a randomized controlled trial
Authors
Ryo Yamashita
Shinji Sato
Ryoichi Akase
Tatsuo Doi
Shigeki Tsuzuku
Toyohiko Yokoi
Shingo Otsuki
Eisaku Harada
Publication date
01-12-2021
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10175-3

Other articles of this Issue 1/2021

BMC Public Health 1/2021 Go to the issue

Research

A qualitative exploration of the impact of COVID-19 on food decisions of economically disadvantaged families in Northern Ireland

Research article

Towards a comprehensive breastfeeding-friendly workplace environment: insight from selected healthcare facilities in the central region of Ghana

Research article

Body image perception and body composition in early adolescents: a longitudinal study of an Italian cohort

Research article

Developmental trends in early childhood and their predictors from an Indian birth cohort

Research article

Effects of a randomized controlled trial of a brief, student-nurse led, parent-based sexual health intervention on parental protective factors and HPV vaccination uptake

Research article

Changes over 15 years in the contribution of adiposity and smoking to deaths in England and Scotland