The Impact of Community-Based Testing Sites and Gift Incentives on COVID-19 Testing Uptake in Maryland, April 29 – May 9, 2021

Purpose Information on incentives for COVID-19 testing is needed to understand effective practices that encourage testing uptake. We describe characteristics of those who received an incentive after performing a rapid antigen test. Design Cross-sectional descriptive analysis of survey data. Setting...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	American journal of health promotion Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 228 - 232
Main Authors:	Turbyfill, Caitlin, Thomas, Isabel, Agravat, Namita, Prasher, Joanna M, Nett, Randall J, Stevens, Melody, Ricaldi, Jessica N, Dunams, Tambra M, Brickhouse-Frazier, Latasha, Carter, Melissa D, Gebru, Yonathan, King, Ashley, May, Coral S, Miller, Joseph D, Oguh, Chigo, Pullman, Amanda, Roman, Kaylin, Rose, Charles, Scherr, Robert, Sidibe, Turquoise, Soelaeman, Rieza, Weinstein, Jonathan, Wilson, Todd, Tran, Cuc H
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-02-2023
Subjects:	Adult Applied Research Brief COVID-19 - diagnosis COVID-19 Testing Cross-Sectional Studies Humans Maryland Motivation Maryland COVID-19 health behavior incentives pandemic community testing
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Summary:	Purpose Information on incentives for COVID-19 testing is needed to understand effective practices that encourage testing uptake. We describe characteristics of those who received an incentive after performing a rapid antigen test. Design Cross-sectional descriptive analysis of survey data. Setting During April 29–May 9, 2021, COVID-19 rapid antigen testing was offered in 2 Maryland cities. Sample Convenience sample of 553 adults (≥18 years) who tested and received an incentive; 93% consented to survey. Measures Survey questions assessed reasons for testing, testing history, barriers, and demographics. Analysis Robust Poisson regressions were used to determine characteristic differences based on testing history and between participants who would re-test in the future without an incentive vs participants who would not. Results The most common reasons for testing were the desire to be tested (n = 280; 54%) and convenience of location (n = 146; 28%). Those motivated by an incentive to test (n = 110; 21%) were 5.83 times as likely to state they would not test again without an incentive, compared to those with other reasons for testing (95% CI: 2.67-12.72, P < .001). Critical Limitations No comparative study group. Conclusion Results indicate internal motivation and convenience were prominent factors supporting testing uptake. Incentives may increase community testing participation, particularly among people who have never tested. Keywords COVID-19, pandemic, incentives, health behavior, community testing.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0890-1171 2168-6602
DOI:	10.1177/08901171221119796