ACTIVATE Study - Digital Incentive Scheme to optimise movement in T2DM
Research type
Research Study
Full title
ACTIVATE: Evaluating the effectiveness of a digital health and financial incentive scheme intervention to promote physical activity in patients living with type 2 diabetes: A randomised controlled trial
IRAS ID
326885
Contact name
Antoanela Colda
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS FT
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Currently, there are 3.7 million people living with type 2 diabetes in the UK and there are a further 12 million people at high risk of developing it. There is strong evidence that being active helps people to manage type 2 diabetes as well as being good for their overall health.
Current guidance states that adults should, over the week, complete at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, however, few manage to achieve this target.
Given a large number of people with type 2 diabetes are inactive, new interventions are needed to help these people become more active. One potential solution is the use of wearable technology, health apps and financial incentive to encourage people to be more active.
We are proposing to test the effectiveness of one such scheme: the Exi App (a mobile phone based app that encourages and supports people to achieve a personalised prescription of physical activity), a wearable device that monitors physical activity, and a set of financial incentives (vouchers).
We will use a randomised controlled trial to test its impact on clinical outcomes (e.g. HbA1c) and patient-reported outcomes (quality of life).
We will aim to recruit people living with type 2 diabetes via primary care, during their annual diabetes review with their GP or diabetes nurse. Participants will be randomised to receive standard advice about physical activity (national guidance) or provided with a wearable (apple watch), health app (EXi) and financial rewards on goal achievement.
The trial will run for 24 months and we will measure health outcomes and patient reported outcomes at baseline, 12 months and 24 months. The usual care group will be a waitlist control group and will receive the intervention at 12 months.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0167
Date of REC Opinion
30 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion