Participation in Fitness-Related Activities of an Incentive-Based Health Promotion Program and Hospital Costs: A Retrospective Longitudinal Study

Abstract Purpose. A retrospective, longitudinal study examined changes in participation in fitness-related activities and hospital claims over 5 years amongst members of an incentivized health promotion program offered by a private health insurer. Design. A 3-year retrospective observational analysis measuring gym visits and participation in documented fitness-related activities, probability of hospital admission, and associated costs of admission. Setting. A South African private health plan, Discovery Health and the Vitality health promotion program. Participants. 304,054 adult members of the Discovery medical plan, 192,467 of whom registered for the health promotion program and 111,587 members who were not on the program. Intervention. Members were incentivised for fitness-related activities on the basis of the frequency of gym visits. Measures. Changes in electronically documented gym visits and registered participation in fitness-related activities over 3 years and measures of association between cha...