Heterogeneity in the Effects of Reward- and Deposit-based Financial Incentives on Smoking Cessation.

ABSTRACT: Targeting different smoking cessation programs to smokers most likely to quit when using them could reduce the burden of lung disease.To identify smokers most likely to quit using pure reward-based financial incentives or incentive programs requiring refundable deposits to become eligible for rewards.We conducted prespecified secondary analyses of a randomized trial in which 2,538 smokers were assigned to an $800 reward contingent on sustained abstinence from smoking, a refundable $150 deposit plus a $650 reward, or usual care.Using logistic regression, we identified characteristics of smokers that were most strongly associated with accepting their assigned intervention and ceasing smoking for 6 months. We assessed modification of the acceptance, efficacy, and effectiveness of reward and deposit programs by 11 prospectively selected demographic, smoking-related, and psychological factors. Predictors of sustained smoking abstinence differed among participants assigned to reward- versus deposit-based incentives. However, greater readiness to quit and less steep discounting of future rewards were consistently among the most important predictors. Deposit-based programs were uniquely effective relative to usual care among men, higher-income participants, and participants who more commonly failed to pay their bills (all interaction P values?

SUBMITTER: Halpern SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5067821 | biostudies-other | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other