The Oakland Men's Health Disparities Study

Last registered on March 21, 2018

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The Oakland Men's Health Disparities Study

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0002497

Initial registration date

October 05, 2017

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

October 06, 2017, 2:10 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated

March 21, 2018, 7:36 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Oakland, CA

Primary Investigator

Name

Marcella Alsan

Affiliation

Harvard Kennedy School

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Grant Graziani

PI Affiliation

University of California - Berkeley

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Owen Garrick

PI Affiliation

Bridge Clinical

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Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2017-10-07

End date

2018-03-10

Keywords

Health

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

I12, I14

Secondary IDs

Abstract

Reducing racial disparities in health outcomes is a major policy concern in the United States. Although there has been recent progress to close the gap, black men continue to experience earlier morbidity and mortality from preventable and manageable medical conditions, and live on average 4.2 years less than their white male peers. An oft-prescribed solution to close this stubborn gap is to increase the diversity of the healthcare workforce. Another common policy tool to increase take-up of preventative healthcare services is financial incentives. In this randomized evaluation, we will estimate the effects of financial incentives and a racially concordant physician on the uptake of preventive health services in Oakland, California.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Alsan, Marcella, Owen Garrick and Grant Graziani. 2018. "The Oakland Men's Health Disparities Study." AEA RCT Registry. March 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2497-2.0

Former Citation

Alsan, Marcella, Owen Garrick and Grant Graziani. 2018. "The Oakland Men's Health Disparities Study." AEA RCT Registry. March 21. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2497/history/27025

Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2017-10-14

Intervention End Date

2018-03-10

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The primary outcome is the number of preventative care services selected by the participants at our free clinic.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

The preventative services vary from non-invasive to more-invasive - (body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol screen via fingerprick, diabetes screen via fingerprick and flu shot).

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

The secondary outcomes is whether the subject would refer their peers to the clinic and /or doctor. We are also interested in the primary outcome dis-aggregated by mistrust and other background characteristics as discussed in the analysis plan.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The experimental design was as follows:
(1) Recruitment: Adult men who self-identified as African American were recruited at community sites in the Oakland, CA area. Most recruitment sites were black-owned barber shops, though some men were recruited from flea markets, churches and schools. Those who chose to enroll in the study completed a baseline survey regarding demographics, health status, history of health care utilization and trust. Survey completion was incentivized by haircut vouchers at the barbershops or $10–$20 in cash, depending on the venue. The participants received coupons for free cardiovascular health screenings to redeem at a clinic that was run on Saturdays specifically for the purposes of the study. It was emphasized that the doctors would not be able to address other health concerns. Uber donated ride-sharing services to transport individuals to and from the clinic.
(2) Presentation and ex-ante demand: Subjects who presented at the clinic were randomized to a male study doctor and an incentive amount. After check-in, the subject was placed in a private patient room. At that point, the subject was given an unconditional cash payment for presentation at the clinic ($50). Afterwards, the subject was introduced to their assigned doctor through a tablet device, which included a generic description of the doctor’s background and his actual photo. Subjects were then asked to select which of five preventative health care services they would like to receive from their assigned doctor. One of the services — a flu shot — was a surprise service the subjects learned about on presentation, at which point they were randomly offered a financial incentive ($0, $5, $10) conditional on selecting to receive the vaccination.
(3) Ex-post demand: After selecting the desired services, the assigned doctor met with the subject. Study doctors were provided with a list of each subject’s ex-ante demand; however, they were instructed to encourage participants to obtain all of the services. The doctors were informed that, due to restrictions on the malpractice coverage purchased for the study, they were not able to provide services outside those in the screening. The ex-post demand (the demand after interacting with the assigned doctor) was also recorded. Subjects were asked to fill out a satisfaction survey after the encounter.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

We are using computer randomization via Survey CTO.

Randomization Unit

The unit of randomization is the individual.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

Not applicable.

Sample size: planned number of observations

1,500 individuals (African American men) will be recruited and 750 will be randomized.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

1,500 African American men will be randomly assigned to black or non-black doctors with a 50% chance of being assigned to each type of doctor. We expect 750 subjects to present at the clinic, these 750 will be randomized.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

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