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Financial Health Incentives Show Modest Impact on Physical Activity: Study Reveals Insights

A recent comprehensive case-control study evaluating the link between financial health incentives and physical activity has shed light on the sustainable impact of such incentives. Conducted with a staggering 584,760 participants, the study was centered around the withdrawal of financial incentives for physical activity in Ontario after more than a year of incentive intervention. The findings revealed that the reduction in financial health incentives led to modest but statistically significant declines in physical activity, albeit not clinically meaningful.

The research aimed to investigate the effects of incomplete financial incentive withdrawal, known as “schedule thinning,” on participants’ physical activity behaviors. This study, set in three Canadian provinces over a 25-week period in 2018 and 2019, particularly focused on the withdrawal of financial incentives in Ontario but not in British Columbia or Newfoundland and Labrador, acting as control groups.

Surprisingly, despite the withdrawal of financial incentives for daily physical activity goals, the study observed only minor decreases in the daily step count. The reduction in Ontario was estimated at approximately 198 to 274 steps per day compared to the control provinces. These observed declines in physical activity were primarily confined to users highly engaged with the health app.

Moreover, physically inactive users did not witness a decrease in their physical activity following the withdrawal of financial incentives, raising the hypothesis that established physical activity habits might persist even with the reduction or cessation of financial rewards.

The study emphasized that while the observed reductions in physical activity were statistically significant, they did not hold clinical significance. It suggested that once physical activity habits are established, they can potentially be maintained with less frequent and less costly financial health incentive reinforcement, even after withdrawal.

The research, while conducted before the widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, still holds relevance in today’s landscape, especially as governments and organizations continue to explore ways to influence health behaviors through financial incentives. These findings might encourage the design of more sustainable models for financial incentives to promote physical activity, considering the limitations and costs associated with large-scale incentive programs.

Source &Credit: JAMA Network Open Journal

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