Clinical trial NCT00891111: Incentives for Preventative Health Care: Increasing Completion of Health Risk Assessments
Official title: Incentives for Preventative Health Care: Increasing Completion of Health Risk Assessments
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Prevention
Keywords: Health Risk Assessment
Incentives
Preventative Healthcare
Encouraging Health Risk Assessments
Lead sponsor: Carnegie Mellon University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Yale University
name: University of Pennsylvania
First posted: 2009-05-01
Enrollment: 634
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to understand using incentives to encourage employees to increase participation in an aspect of a corporate wellness program - filling out health risk assessments. This study will test whether lottery-linked incentives are more effective than guaranteed incentives in encouraging people to fill out health risk assessments.

This study will be run in an employer setting in which rates of health risk assessment completion are suboptimal. This study would be conducted within a workplace setting in which the firm is divided into a number of geographically situated and functionally related subunits. The investigators will run a "complete your health risk assessment now!" program for 4 weeks. Each work unit will obtain a symbol. Every week, one symbol will be randomly drawn, publicly announced, and anyone in that work unit at the firm who has received their preventive screening would receive a $100 prize. In addition, if all of employees in that unit have completed their forms, then the prize will be increased to $125.

The investigators expect this condition to result in greater compliance compared to a control condition in which employees would receive weekly reminders and a direct payment of a $25 gift card for completing the form at anytime during the 4 weeks of the study. This is analogous to direct payments that have been used by insurers to encourage completion of such forms in other contexts.

Detailed description: The purpose of this study is to apply concepts from behavioral economics to increase the effectiveness of incentives for preventative health care.

Health risk assessments are an important part of preventative healthcare. Employees fill out these forms and are given feedback about their health risks and steps they can take to improve their health. This study will be run in an employer setting in which rates of health risk assessment completion are suboptimal. This study would be conducted within a workplace setting in which the firm is divided into a number of geographically situated and functionally related subunits. We will run a "complete your health risk assessment now!" program for 4 weeks. Each work unit will obtain a symbol. Every week, one symbol will be randomly drawn, publicly announced, and anyone in that work unit at the firm who has received their preventive screening would receive a $100 prize. In addition, if all of employees in that unit have completed their forms, then the prize will be increased to $125.

This program plays on a number of psychological factors: 1) avoidance of regret, which one will experience if the number/symbol of the unit one is a member of is drawn and one does not win a prize because one is not participating in the wellness program 2) amplification of such regret by social means - because other people around you who are participating will receive cash prizes 3) mild social pressure, because high enrollments will yield benefits for all participants.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Full time employees

Primary outcomes:
measure: Percent of people in each condition who complete their health risk assessment
timeFrame: 4 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Shelton
country: United States
facility: Med3000
state: Connecticut
city: Pensacola
country: United States
facility: Med 3000
state: Florida
city: Tampa
country: United States
facility: Med3000
state: Florida
city: Tinley Park
country: United States
facility: Med3000
state: Illinois
city: Winston-Salem
country: United States
facility: Med3000
state: North Carolina
city: Dayton
country: United States
facility: Med3000
state: Ohio
city: Pittsburgh
country: United States
facility: Med3000
state: Pennsylvania
city: Dallas
country: United States
facility: Med3000
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: Carnegie Mellon University
name: George Loewenstein, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: