Evaluation of the effectiveness of obesity-related non-surgical and pharmaceutical policies and the role of conditionality on physical behavior.

Last registered on June 13, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Evaluation of the effectiveness of obesity-related non-surgical and pharmaceutical policies and the role of conditionality on physical behavior.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016190
Initial registration date
June 09, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
June 13, 2025, 7:08 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Raul Santaeulalia
Affiliation
New York University Abu Dhabi
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Veda Narasimhan
PI Affiliation
NYUAD
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-06-30
End date
2027-07-31
Keywords
Behavior, Health
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study the effects of a new health policy in Abu Dhabi that links weight-loss medication subsidies to individual physical activity, using a combination of administrative health data, wearable device tracking, and field surveys. In collaboration with the Department of Health of Abu Dhabi, we evaluate this intervention through a regression discontinuity design and a randomized controlled trial, separately identifying the impact of medication and physical activity on health outcomes such as BMI and blood glucose, and socioeconomic outcomes such as employment, marital status and children. The estimates will be used in a model of insurance and incentives to aggregate behavior and inform public finance aspects of the policy.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Narasimhan, Veda and Raul Santaeulalia. 2025. "Evaluation of the effectiveness of obesity-related non-surgical and pharmaceutical policies and the role of conditionality on physical behavior. ." AEA RCT Registry. June 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16190-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will test how the introduction of weight-loss medications changes health and labor outcomes for individuals. In parallel, we test how reimbursements conditional on physical activity may encourage or discourage weight-loss behavior.
Intervention Start Date
2025-07-31
Intervention End Date
2026-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Weight, incidence of diabetes, BMI, blood sugar levels, employment, mental well-being, physical activity.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Diabetes - we will measure the share of individuals diagnosed post-treatment with diabetes, and check to see if the measures of physical activity, e.g. step counts, have increased over time.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Maintenance of BMI in the long-term, general health and well-being, rate of reimbursement
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
General health will be measured through doctor visits, diagnoses, and medication taken by the patients.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our randomized control trial tests how conditions associated with health insurance reimbursement affect individual behavior. We randomize individuals who have registered to participate in a weight-loss subsidy program into a control group that receives no conditions associated with reimbursement of medication, and a treatment group who have to satisfy conditions on physical activity in order to qualify for reimbursement.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Lottery system, where individuals are randomly selected based on when they register. If we are unable to implement this fully, we plan to instead randomize doctors/clinics, and individuals will be assigned to either a control doctor or a treatment doctor.
Randomization Unit
Individual level randomization.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
~5000
Sample size: planned number of observations
~5000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Control group for the RCT: 1000, treatment group: 4000
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
0.03 change in BMI, with sigma=0.4, alpha=0.05, power=0.8
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan