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Trial registered on ANZCTR


Registration number
ACTRN12620000103965p
Ethics application status
Submitted, not yet approved
Date submitted
14/01/2020
Date registered
5/02/2020
Date last updated
5/02/2020
Date data sharing statement initially provided
5/02/2020
Type of registration
Prospectively registered

Titles & IDs
Public title
Examining whether receiving optimal messages influences attitudes, intentions and take-up of pre-commitment among monthly sports/race bettors.
Scientific title
Examining the effectiveness of optimal messages on attitudes, intentions and take-up of pre-commitment among monthly sports/race bettors.
Secondary ID [1] 300260 0
Nil known
Universal Trial Number (UTN)
Trial acronym
Linked study record

Health condition
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied:
Gambling harm 315827 0
Condition category
Condition code
Mental Health 314116 314116 0 0
Addiction

Intervention/exposure
Study type
Interventional
Description of intervention(s) / exposure
Intervention: Optimal messages

Participants in the intervention group will receive one of six optimal messages about pre-commitment (limit setting). The general nature of these messages is informative/educational.

Messages will relate to setting different types of limits: deposit limits (e.g. maximum amount deposited into accounts), loss limits (e.g. maximum amounts lost on betting) or spend limits (e.g. maximum amount spent on betting).

As a simple example, one of the messages relating to deposit limits will include informative information such as explaining what a deposit limit is and the benefits of setting a deposit limit.

The main differences in the six messages relate to the type of limit they provide information about (deposit, loss, or spend) and whether they are personalised or generic. Below is an
explanation of the differences in messages

2 messages for deposit limits (1 is personalised, 1 is generic)
2 messages for loss limits (1 is personalised, 1 is generic)
2 messages for spend limit (1 is personalised, 1 is generic)

The messages are not linked to an app so obtaining analytics are not possible. The effectiveness of these messages will be assessed in the follow-up survey. The intervention will be delivered (electronically via SMS) by a member of the research team. Half of the intervention group will receive an optimal message once a week for four weeks, and the other half of the intervention group will receive an optimal message twice a week for four weeks.

Half of the optimal messages will be personalised. Information from the baseline survey will be used to personalise some messages. An example of how a message may be personalised includes noting in the message how much the participant usually spends on gambling each month.

Those participants receiving messages twice a week will receive the same message (out of the possible six) twice. They will not receive a combination of the six possible messages.

Participants will be assigned into treatment groups (or the control group) via randomisation using the online survey platform programming.
Intervention code [1] 316530 0
Behaviour
Intervention code [2] 316647 0
Treatment: Other
Comparator / control treatment
There is a control group and they don’t receive any messages (i.e. intervention) at all.
Control group
Active

Outcomes
Primary outcome [1] 322499 0
Changes in attitudes towards pre-commitment assessed through question(s) designed specifically for the current study
Timepoint [1] 322499 0
Assessed at baseline (primary timepoint) and also at follow-up (approximately 1 month after baseline)
Primary outcome [2] 322500 0
Changes in intentions to use pre-commitment assessed through question(s) designed specifically for the current study
Timepoint [2] 322500 0
Assessed at baseline (primary timepoint) and also at follow-up (approximately 1 month after baseline)
Primary outcome [3] 322502 0
Changes in take-up of pre-commitment assessed through question(s) designed specifically for the current study
Timepoint [3] 322502 0
Assessed at baseline (primary timepoint) and also at follow-up (approximately 1 month after baseline)
Secondary outcome [1] 378719 0
Changes in short term gambling problem assessed through the validated Problem Gambling Severity Index.
Timepoint [1] 378719 0
Assessed at baseline (primary timepoint) and also at follow-up (approximately 1 month after baseline)

Eligibility
Key inclusion criteria
- Aged 18 years or over
- Reside in Australia
- Bet on sports or races at least once a month on average
- Have at least one active online or telephone wagering account
- Willing to provide mobile number and email address
Minimum age
18 Years
Maximum age
No limit
Sex
Both males and females
Can healthy volunteers participate?
Yes
Key exclusion criteria
- Children and/or young people (i.e. <18 years of age)
- Non-gamblers

Study design
Purpose of the study
Prevention
Allocation to intervention
Randomised controlled trial
Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)
Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)
Participants will be assigned via simple randomisation via the online survey platform programming.
Masking / blinding
Who is / are masked / blinded?



Intervention assignment
Other design features
Phase
Not Applicable
Type of endpoint/s
Statistical methods / analysis

Recruitment
Recruitment status
Not yet recruiting
Date of first participant enrolment
Anticipated
17/02/2020
Actual
Date of last participant enrolment
Anticipated
Actual
Date of last data collection
Anticipated
Actual
Sample size
Target
600
Accrual to date
Final
Recruitment in Australia
Recruitment state(s)
ACT,NSW,NT,QLD,SA,TAS,WA,VIC

Funding & Sponsors
Funding source category [1] 304664 0
Government body
Name [1] 304664 0
Gambling Research Australia
Country [1] 304664 0
Australia
Primary sponsor type
University
Name
Central Queensland University
Address
Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory
CQUniversity Australia
University Drive (off Isis Hwy)
Bundaberg QLD 4670
Country
Australia
Secondary sponsor category [1] 304992 0
None
Name [1] 304992 0
Address [1] 304992 0
Country [1] 304992 0

Ethics approval
Ethics application status
Submitted, not yet approved
Ethics committee name [1] 305084 0
CQUniversity Human Research Ethics Committee
Ethics committee address [1] 305084 0
CQUniversity Australia
Building 32, Bruce Highway
Rockhampton QLD 4702
Ethics committee country [1] 305084 0
Australia
Date submitted for ethics approval [1] 305084 0
13/01/2020
Approval date [1] 305084 0
Ethics approval number [1] 305084 0

Summary
Brief summary
Rationale.
Most Australian licensed online wagering operators already offer voluntary pre-commitment through setting deposit limits. However, uptake of this tool is reportedly quite low and it is often associated with problem gambling, rather than being considered a useful tool for all online bettors to monitor their betting expenditure over time. Therefore, substantial trialling and testing is required to determine how to increase the uptake of voluntary opt-out precommitment for online wagering.

Aim.
This project will examine whether receiving optimal messages influences attitudes, intentions and take-up of pre-commitment.

Methodology.
The proposed evaluation methodology is a Randomised Control Trial to be conducted with 600 Australian monthly sports/race bettors.
Trial website
Trial related presentations / publications
Public notes

Contacts
Principal investigator
Name 99214 0
Prof Nerilee Hing
Address 99214 0
CQUniversity Australia,
G.07 Building 8, University Drive (off Isis Hwy), Bundaberg QLD 4670
Country 99214 0
Australia
Phone 99214 0
+61 7 4150 7700
Fax 99214 0
Email 99214 0
[email protected]
Contact person for public queries
Name 99215 0
Nerilee Hing
Address 99215 0
CQUniversity Australia,
G.07 Building 8, University Drive (off Isis Hwy), Bundaberg QLD 4670
Country 99215 0
Australia
Phone 99215 0
+61 7 4150 7700
Fax 99215 0
Email 99215 0
[email protected]
Contact person for scientific queries
Name 99216 0
Nerilee Hing
Address 99216 0
CQUniversity Australia,
G.07 Building 8, University Drive (off Isis Hwy), Bundaberg QLD 4670
Country 99216 0
Australia
Phone 99216 0
+61 7 4150 7700
Fax 99216 0
Email 99216 0
[email protected]

Data sharing statement
Will individual participant data (IPD) for this trial be available (including data dictionaries)?
No
No/undecided IPD sharing reason/comment


What supporting documents are/will be available?

No Supporting Document Provided



Results publications and other study-related documents

Documents added manually
No documents have been uploaded by study researchers.

Documents added automatically
No additional documents have been identified.