Financial incentives for asthma inhaler use improved kids’ medication adherence, but only while being paid, a randomized trial showed.
Five- to 12-year-olds’ adherence to their daily preventive inhaler was 15 percentage points (95% CI 2-29) greater with a full set of interventions — daily text message medication reminders, weekly adherence feedback, and gain-framed, financial incentives of up to $1 per day — compared with none.
An intervention with daily text message medication reminders and weekly adherence feedback but no incentives showed somewhat higher adherence numbers but no statistical significance compared with controls, reported Chén Kenyon, MD, MSHP, of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues in JAMA Pediatricsopens in a new tab or window.