Daily texts and prize draws didn't clearly help people take blood-pressure pills
Who it’s about: Older adults, People with a health condition
- No differenceGoals
Daily text reminders, on top of a plan to take pills after a set routine, didn't clearly help pill-taking.
- Rule: Get a remindertested
- Action: Take your medicationused
- Rule: Anchor it to an old habitused
- Rule: Every dayused
Small randomised trial of 60 adults with high blood pressure in Los Angeles · vs usual care with the same leaflet and pill bottle · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ numbers unreliable; many people dropped out; summary claims more than the results show
- No differenceGoals
Prize draws plus daily texts, for taking pills on time, didn't clearly help daily pill-taking compared with usual care.
- Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
- Rule: Get a remindertested
- Action: Take your medicationused
- Rule: Anchor it to an old habitused
Small randomised trial of 60 adults with high blood pressure in Los Angeles · vs usual care with the same leaflet and pill bottle · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ numbers unreliable; many people dropped out; summary claims more than the results show
- No differenceRoutines
Daily text reminders didn't clearly help people take their pills within an hour of their chosen routine.
- Rule: Get a remindertested
- Action: Take your medicationused
- Rule: Anchor it to an old habitused
- Rule: Every dayused
Small randomised trial of 60 adults with high blood pressure in Los Angeles · vs usual care with the same leaflet and pill bottle · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ numbers unreliable; many people dropped out; summary claims more than the results show
- No differenceRoutines
Prize draws plus daily texts didn't clearly help people take their pills within an hour of their chosen routine.
- Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
- Rule: Get a remindertested
- Action: Take your medicationused
- Rule: Anchor it to an old habitused
Small randomised trial of 60 adults with high blood pressure in Los Angeles · vs usual care with the same leaflet and pill bottle · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ numbers unreliable; many people dropped out; summary claims more than the results show
The study
Who took part
About 60 adults with high blood pressure in Los Angeles, about 63 on average and half of them women. Most were retired, and most took their pills well at the start.
What they did
Everyone tied their pill to a daily routine and got a short leaflet and a pill bottle that logged each opening. One group also got daily text reminders for 3 months. A third group got the texts plus a monthly prize draw of up to $50 for taking pills on time.
What happened
Six months after the texts ended, pills were taken on 84 in 100 days with texts, 77 with prizes and 75 without. None of these gaps were clear, and blood pressure didn't differ. Many people dropped out, and the paper's head counts don't match.
Source
Impact of behavioral economics to improve antihypertensive therapy adherence, a pilot randomized controlled trial in Los Angeles (2025)
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-94805-5 (opens in a new tab)Tools in this study
Rule · how5
Get a reward or payment for doing itIncentives, prizes, lotteries or points for doing it.
