Jai Mashru, Gabrielle Gagnon, Carly Kaus, Yvon Gagnon, Adam Moir
{"title":"Increasing diabetes testing adherence with incentives in rural Northwestern Ontario.","authors":"Jai Mashru, Gabrielle Gagnon, Carly Kaus, Yvon Gagnon, Adam Moir","doi":"10.4103/cjrm.cjrm_11_22","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The health outcomes of rural Canadians have been described as poor and can in some part be related to diabetes mellitus. Despite the high mortality and morbidity rates associated with the disease, compliance with management remains low. Research has shown that a small financial incentive used to modify patient behaviour, can improve outcomes in cardiac disease and exercise adherence. This study aims to evaluate if a small financial incentive awarded to rural Northwestern Ontario patients with diabetes who complete an haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test, would result in greater compliance in test completion.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Patients were recruited through two Northern rural clinics. Participants were divided into two groups: Group A received a financial incentive, whereas Group B received a letter of reminder. HbA1c tests were recorded every 6 months for 2 years and compliance was analysed using a t-test and Chi-square.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>One hundred and forty-six participants were recruited with 30 lost to follow-up. Overall, the incentive group completed a statistically significantly higher number of HbA1c tests compared to those in the control group. In addition, it was noted that there was an increase in test adherence for participants that received reminder letters, although not an initially expected outcome of the study.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The results suggest that either a financial incentive or a reminder directed towards rural Canadians could have a benefit in promoting health behaviours to subsequent medical management of diabetes mellitus.</p>","PeriodicalId":44615,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4103/cjrm.cjrm_11_22","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: The health outcomes of rural Canadians have been described as poor and can in some part be related to diabetes mellitus. Despite the high mortality and morbidity rates associated with the disease, compliance with management remains low. Research has shown that a small financial incentive used to modify patient behaviour, can improve outcomes in cardiac disease and exercise adherence. This study aims to evaluate if a small financial incentive awarded to rural Northwestern Ontario patients with diabetes who complete an haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test, would result in greater compliance in test completion.
Methods: Patients were recruited through two Northern rural clinics. Participants were divided into two groups: Group A received a financial incentive, whereas Group B received a letter of reminder. HbA1c tests were recorded every 6 months for 2 years and compliance was analysed using a t-test and Chi-square.
Results: One hundred and forty-six participants were recruited with 30 lost to follow-up. Overall, the incentive group completed a statistically significantly higher number of HbA1c tests compared to those in the control group. In addition, it was noted that there was an increase in test adherence for participants that received reminder letters, although not an initially expected outcome of the study.
Conclusion: The results suggest that either a financial incentive or a reminder directed towards rural Canadians could have a benefit in promoting health behaviours to subsequent medical management of diabetes mellitus.
期刊介绍:
The Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine (CJRM) is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal available in print form and on the Internet. It is the first rural medical journal in the world indexed in Index Medicus, as well as MEDLINE/PubMed databases. CJRM seeks to promote research into rural health issues, promote the health of rural and remote communities, support and inform rural practitioners, provide a forum for debate and discussion of rural medicine, provide practical clinical information to rural practitioners and influence rural health policy by publishing articles that inform decision-makers.