Effect of Cash Benefits on Health Care Utilization

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Health Care Utilization
• Interventions: Other: Cash Benefit; Other: No Cash Benefit

• Registration Number: NCT05622903
• Lead Sponsor: Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)

Brief Summary

Using data from the Chelsea Eats program, we propose to study a randomized controlled trial in which the City of Chelsea, Massachusetts held a lottery to allocate cash benefits to its residents for ten months during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will analyze the impact of the cash benefit on health care utilization and health.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-07-27
• Primary Completion: 2021-12-31
• Study First Submitted: 2022-11-14
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-11-14
• Study First Posted: 2022-11-21
• Study Completion: 2024-02-01
• Status Verified: 2024-07
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-07-11
• Last Update Posted: 2024-07-12

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 3615

Inclusion Criteria

• Resident of Chelsea, Massachusetts
• Household income at or below 30% of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Area Median Income

Exclusion Criteria

• See inclusion criteria

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Treatment Group	Cash Benefit	Participants in the treatment group received up to $400 per month.
Control Group	No Cash Benefit	Participants in the control group did not receive monthly cash benefits.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Emergency department use	10 months	Count of visits to the emergency department (ED) using the electronic health record

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Blood pressure	10 months	Continuous measure of blood pressure, using the latest available reading or result during trial period
Behavioral health-related ED visit	10 months	Visits to the ED with a behavioral health-related diagnosis code
ED visit resulting in admission to the hospital	10 months	Visits to the ED that result in a hospitalization
Potentially avoidable ED visit	10 months	Visits to the ED that are potentially avoidable, categorized as avoidable according to the previously validated New York University algorithm
Outpatient service use	10 months	Office visits and visits for other types of outpatient care such as imaging and procedures
Cholesterol	10 months	Continuous measure of cholesterol, using the latest available reading or result during trial period
COVID vaccination	10 months	Binary variable for having received at least one dose of any COVID vaccine by the end of the trial period
Hemoglobin A1c	10 months	Continuous measure of diabetes, using the latest available reading or result during trial period
Weight	10 months	Continuous measure of weight, using the latest available reading or result during trial period
Substance use disorder-related ED visit	10 months	Visits to the ED with a substance use disorder-related diagnosis code

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Harvard Medical School; 🇺🇸 Boston, Massachusetts, United States