MedPath

Effect of EITC on Biological Markers of Aging, Health and Mortality

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Tax Policy
Poverty
Interventions
Other: Paycheck Plus
Registration Number
NCT03226548
Lead Sponsor
Columbia University
Brief Summary

Paycheck Plus (PP) is a randomized controlled experiment (RCT) that explores the health and longevity effects associated with increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). EITC is a national program that provides tax credits to low-income, disproportionately minority workers who file taxes. EITC is politically popular, having received bipartisan support. The EITC, along with state supplemental programs, have 7 million American families out of poverty. The investigators' preliminary data analyses show that the EITC has had large population health impacts, reversing declines in self rated health and survival among the poorest Americans.

Detailed Description

Poverty disproportionately impacts minority and rural populations and is very strongly correlated with poor health over the life cycle, and has been hypothesized to lead to a shorter, less healthy aging process. Poverty is associated with a greater burden of disease than smoking and obesity combined and accounts for the bulk of health disparities by race. It is widely believed that an antipoverty policy, such as Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), could improve healthy aging among working-age low-income adults over the life cycle. It does so by increasing material hardship and psychological stress, two risk factors that are strongly correlated with biological markers of premature aging (e.g., shorter telomeres, higher cholesterol levels, and higher blood pressure).

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
1350
Inclusion Criteria
  1. a US resident
  2. Filed taxes
  3. Earned <$30,000 in the previous year
  4. Aged 21-64
  5. Have a Social Security number
Read More
Exclusion Criteria
  1. Eligible for Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance
  2. Married
  3. Have dependent children
Read More

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
ExperimentalPaycheck PlusPaycheck Plus: Participants will receive four times the standard Earned Income Tax Credit after filing their annual taxes
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Mean Score on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)4 Years

Depression will be measured using the subject's score on the PHQ-9.

EuroQol 5D5L4 years

Health-related quality of life

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Mean Body Mass Index (BMI)2 Years

A measure of obesity

Telomere length4 years

Telomere length is a measure of biological age

Mortality4 years

We will link records to National Death Index for future study

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Westat

🇺🇸

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

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