Effectiveness of Financial Incentives for a Pedometer-Based Walking Promotion Program

Physical inactivity contributes significantly to poor health and the onset of disease. Physical inactivity is also associated with severe economic burdens. Japans Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) cites the provision of various health promotion incentives aimed at health-indifferent groups, which are made up of individuals less interested in health promotion. This study investigated the relationship between medical costs and a pedometer-based walking program providing monetary incentives based on daily step counts. The study sample included 16,816 citizens aged 40-75 years who lived in Takaishi City and were enrolled in the NIH from October 2016 to March 2018. The results of the ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that participation in a walking promotion program with an HPFI was correlated with a reduction in healthcare costs over 1 year in a sample of Takaishi City residents. In fact, there was a difference of 67,077 yen in the average medical cost per person per year between the walking and control groups. With 1,923 walking group participants, the total medical cost reduction was predicted to be at least 12,898,904 yen. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a walking promotion program with incentives. With program context differing widely from region to region and country to country, future investigations are needed to inform the selection of appropriate incentive schemes for programs offered in other regions and countries.