Reminders and rewards got more adults vaccinated and screened

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   The review pooled 108 studies of adults, and 81 of them compared a change with usual care. They looked at flu and pneumonia vaccines, and at breast, cervical and colon cancer screening.

2. 02

   What they did

   Each study tried a way to get adults to use these services. Ideas included reminders, rewards, teaching and changes to how clinics work. Each one was compared with usual care.

3. 03

   What happened

   Changes to how clinics work did best, then rewards and reminders. Teaching patients helped somewhat, and the authors found signs that some studies went unpublished. Some studies assigned whole clinics, not single people, so their results look surer than they are.

What the review found

1. Helped

   Across 81 studies, reminders got more adults vaccinated or screened than usual care did.

   • Rule: Get a remindertested

   Pooled analysis of 81 studies · vs adults who got usual care · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. Helped

   Across 81 studies, rewards such as paying less for care got more adults vaccinated or screened than usual care.

   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested

   Pooled analysis of 81 studies · vs adults who got usual care · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. Helped

   Across 81 studies, teaching patients helped more adults get vaccinated or screened than usual care did.

   Pooled analysis of 81 studies · vs adults who got usual care · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source