A Randomized Trial of Patient Financial Incentives to Reduce CVD Risk
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT02035826. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Despite strong evidence that reducing low-density lipoproteins (LDL) with statins successfully lowers CVD risk, physicians under-prescribe statins, physicians fail to intensify treatment when indicated, and more than 50% of patients stop taking statins within one year of first prescription though such therapy typically should be life-long. In this study, we will test the effectiveness of different financial incentives in increasing statin use and reducing LDL cholesterol among patients with poor cholesterol control who are at very high risk for CVD. The application of conceptual approaches from behavioral economics offers considerable promise in advancing health and health care. We will test these approaches among patients at very high risk of CVD at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. Using a 4-arm, cluster-randomized controlled trial, we aim to answer these questions: \[1\] How does the provision of patient incentives compare to no incentives at all? \[2\] Is success with patient incentives improved by increasing the financial amounts? \[3\] Are results sustained after incentives and other interventions are withdrawn? Study Objectives and Hypothesis Aim 1: To evaluate the effectiveness of varying patient incentives on improvement in LDL cholesterol relative to usual care during a 3-month intervention among patients at high risk of CVD. H1: Each of the incentives will be more effective than usual care in reducing LDL cholesterol. Aim 2: To evaluate the relative effectiveness of those intervention arms superior to control in reducing LDL cholesterol. H2: Higher incentive amounts for patients will be more effective than lower incentive amounts. Aim 3: To evaluate the impact of each effective intervention in sustaining adherence and reduced LDL after the 3-month intervention period. Aim 4: To conduct a rigorous process evaluation to examine why some incentives were more effective than others and to address other factors relevant to broader implementation.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT02035826
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 53 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 80 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Dec 31, 2013
- Primary completion
- Sep 30, 2014
- Completion
- Sep 30, 2014
- Last update posted
- Dec 9, 2014
2014
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates | Boston | Massachusetts | 02215 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT02035826, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Dec 9, 2014 · Synced Sep 3, 2026
Related: full search, browse by condition, browse by drug or therapy, browse by sponsor, browse by U.S. city.
Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT02035826 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.