Results Current evidence indicates that incentives can be effective in driving health behaviour change under certain provisos , while a number of misgivings continue to be deliberated on .
Conclusion These key principles can assist policy makers in making decisions on the use of financial incentives directed at achieving improvements in public health
Background The use of financial incentives or pay-for-performance programs for health care providers has triggered emerging interest in the use of financial incentives for encouraging health behaviour change .
Purpose This paper aims to identify key conditions under which the use of financial incentives for improvements in public health outcomes is most likely to be effective and appropriate .
A randomized, controlled trial of financial incentives for smoking cessation.
BACKGROUND Smoking is the leading preventable cause of premature death in the United States . Previous studies of financial incentives for smoking cessation in work setting s have not shown that such incentives have significant effects on cessation rates , but these studies have had limited power , and the incentives used may have been insufficient . METHODS We r and omly assigned 878 employees of a multinational company based in the United States to receive information about smoking-cessation programs ( 442 employees ) or to receive information about programs plus financial incentives ( 436 employees ) . The financial incentives were $ 100 for completion of a smoking-cessation program , $ 250 for cessation of smoking within 6 months after study enrollment , as confirmed by a biochemical test , and $ 400 for abstinence for an additional 6 months after the initial cessation , as confirmed by a biochemical test . Individual participants were stratified according to work site , heavy or nonheavy smoking , and income . The primary end point was smoking cessation 9 or 12 months after enrollment , depending on whether initial cessation was reported at 3 or 6 months . Secondary end points were smoking cessation within the first 6 months after enrollment and rates of participation in and completion of smoking-cessation programs . RESULTS The incentive group had significantly higher rates of smoking cessation than did the information-only group 9 or 12 months after enrollment ( 14.7 % vs. 5.0 % , P<0.001 ) and 15 or 18 months after enrollment ( 9.4 % vs. 3.6 % , P<0.001 ) . Incentive-group participants also had significantly higher rates of enrollment in a smoking-cessation program ( 15.4 % vs. 5.4 % , P<0.001 ) , completion of a smoking-cessation program ( 10.8 % vs. 2.5 % , P<0.001 ) , and smoking cessation within the first 6 months after enrollment ( 20.9 % vs. 11.8 % , P<0.001 ) . CONCLUSIONS In this study of employees of one large company , financial incentives for smoking cessation significantly increased the rates of smoking cessation . ( Clinical Trials.gov number , NCT00128375 .
Results Current evidence indicates that incentives can be effective in driving health behaviour change under certain provisos , while a number of misgivings continue to be deliberated on .
Conclusion These key principles can assist policy makers in making decisions on the use of financial incentives directed at achieving improvements in public health
Background The use of financial incentives or pay-for-performance programs for health care providers has triggered emerging interest in the use of financial incentives for encouraging health behaviour change .
Purpose This paper aims to identify key conditions under which the use of financial incentives for improvements in public health outcomes is most likely to be effective and appropriate .