Pilot Randomized Control Trial of Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation

Summary

Financial incentives may be more effective than other approaches to smoking cessation, but research is needed to identify the optimal structures of incentives. The investigators will conduct a pilot randomized trial comparing different incentive structures for smoking cessation. Collaborating with Walgreens leadership, the investigators will enroll their employees in this RCT using the investigators new web-based research infrastructure (called the Way to Health platform, and approved as a Prime protocol by the IRB as reference # 811860).

Hypothesis: providing patients with financial incentives can promote healthier behaviors (e.g.: quit smoking).

Conditions

• Tobacco Use Disorder

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Individual Rewards

If participants quit smoking by their target quit date, and that is confirmed by cotinine/anabasine tests, they will receive a monetary award from the study investigators.

BEHAVIORAL

Fixed Deposits

Participants will have to deposit a certain monetary amount of their own money as an incentive to quit smoking. If they quit smoking by their target quit date, and that is confirmed by cotinine/anabasine tests, participants will receive their deposit back. If participants do not quit, their money will be used to support future research studies designed to help people stop smoking.

BEHAVIORAL

Chosen Deposits

Participants will choose their deposit amount (XX = chosen deposit); this same amount will be returned upon success (that is, quit smoking by the target quit date, and having this confirmed by cotinine/anabasine tests). If participants do not quit, their money will be used to support future research studies designed to help people stop smoking. The default deposit will be set to a certain monetary amount for consistency with other arms, and participants can increase or decrease this amount until they reach the amount they want to deposit.

BEHAVIORAL

Competitive Deposits (Pari-Mutuel)

Groups (or "cohorts") of 6 smokers each will be formed on a rolling basis, linking individuals with target quit dates (day "0's") near each other. Participants will deposit a certain monetary amount (Y) in an account, and the payout for quitting on this arm will be Y x 6/Q , where Q is the number of quits in the cohort. Again, success will be confirmed by cotinine or anabasine tests, and if participants do not quit, their money will be used to support future research studies designed to help people stop smoking.

BEHAVIORAL

Usual Care

Participants will receive reimbursements for completing the surveys that are part of the Way To Quit program and for submitting saliva or urine samples at 14 days and 3 months (among those eligible).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Pennsylvania

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Scott Halpern, MD, Ph.D. · University of Pennsylvania, Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care

• Kevin Volpp, MD, Ph.D. · University of Pennsylvania

• Benjamin French, MS, Ph.D. · University of Pennsylvania

• Dylan Small, Ph.D. · University of Pennsylvania

• David Asch, MD, MBA · University of Pennsylvania

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-06-30

Primary Completion

2012-06-30

Completion

2012-06-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations