The financial incentive is twice as effective as traditional support in helping pregnant women to quit smoking, according to a study published in the BMJ.
In terms of health, the United Kingdom has chosen the financial carrot rather than the stick. A method that seems to work if we are to believe a study published in the British Medical Journal. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a financial incentive could help women quit smoking.
For the sake of this study, 612 women from the Glasgow area (Scotland) were selected. They were separated into two groups: the first (the control group) received “standard support” to quit smoking. They first had to go to an appointment with a counselor to discuss their smoking and the possibility of quitting. They then received 4 follow-up phone calls to support them in their process, as well as free nicotine replacement therapy for 10 weeks.
Distribution of vouchers
The second group received this standard support, as well as a financial incentive to quit smoking: Women in this group received £ 50 in vouchers and coupons on the first date, again £ 50 if a measure of the breath showed that they had indeed quit smoking 4 weeks later, then 100 pounds 12 weeks after the last cigarette.
In addition, between the 34th and 38th week of pregnancy, all participants were contacted to find out if they had resumed smoking or not. A nurse visited those who had said they were still abstinent to analyze their level of exhaled carbon monoxide, as well as a sample of saliva and urine to test the level of cotinine, a toxic substance produced by nicotine. . Women in the second group who passed this last test received the last 200 pounds.
Twice as effective as current support
Results: More than 20% of the women who received the coupons quit smoking, compared to only 9% of the women in the control group who received only standard support. The financial incentive could therefore be twice as effective as the support measures currently in place. After one year, the differences are even more important: when only 4% of the women in the control group succeeded in completely quitting smoking, 15% of financially motivated women did not resume smoking.
“This study shows substantial evidence of the value of adding this new type of intervention, promising and potentially very cost-effective, to standard support [déjà existant] », Explain the authors in the BMJ. “Smoking during pregnancy remains a major health problem, killing 5,000 fetuses and babies per year in the UK. It is responsible for spending tens of millions of pounds a year ”.
The UK is a specialist in financial incentives, whether against obesity, or to encourage GPs to screen more for dementia.
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