TY - JOUR
T1 - Promised and Lottery Airtime Incentives to Improve Interactive Voice Response Survey Participation Among Adults in Bangladesh and Uganda
T2 - Randomized Controlled Trial
AU - Gibson, Dustin Garrett
AU - Al Kibria, Gulam Muhammed
AU - Pariyo, George
AU - Ahmed, Saifuddin
AU - Ali, Joseph
AU - Labrique, Alain Bernard
AU - Khan, Iqbal Ansary
AU - Rutebemberwa, Elizeus
AU - Flora, Meerjady Sabrina
AU - Hyder, Adnan Ali
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was made possible by the generous support of Bloomberg Philanthropies (grant 41388.01) to AAH and the people of Australia through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloomberg Philanthropies or the Government of Australia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Journal of Medical Internet Research. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/5/1
Y1 - 2022/5/1
N2 - Background: Increased mobile phone penetration allows the interviewing of respondents using interactive voice response surveys in low- and middle-income countries. However, there has been little investigation of the best type of incentive to obtain data from a representative sample in these countries. Objective: We assessed the effect of different airtime incentives options on cooperation and response rates of an interactive voice response survey in Bangladesh and Uganda. Methods: The open-label randomized controlled trial had three arms: (1) no incentive (control), (2) promised airtime incentive of 50 Bangladeshi Taka (US $0.60; 1 BDT is approximately equivalent to US $0.012) or 5000 Ugandan Shilling (US $1.35; 1 UGX is approximately equivalent to US $0.00028), and (3) lottery incentive (500 BDT and 100,000 UGX), in which the odds of winning were 1:20. Fully automated random-digit dialing was used to sample eligible participants aged ≥18 years. The risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals for primary outcomes of response and cooperation rates were obtained using log-binomial regression. Results: Between June 14 and July 14, 2017, a total of 546,746 phone calls were made in Bangladesh, with 1165 complete interviews being conducted. Between March 26 and April 22, 2017, a total of 178,572 phone calls were made in Uganda, with 1248 complete interviews being conducted. Cooperation rates were significantly higher for the promised incentive (Bangladesh: 39.3%; RR 1.38, 95% CI 1.24-1.55, P<.001; Uganda: 59.9%; RR 1.47, 95% CI 1.33-1.62, P<.001) and the lottery incentive arms (Bangladesh: 36.6%; RR 1.28, 95% CI 1.15-1.45, P<.001; Uganda: 54.6%; RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.21-1.48, P<.001) than those for the control arm (Bangladesh: 28.4%; Uganda: 40.9%). Similarly, response rates were significantly higher for the promised incentive (Bangladesh: 26.5%%; RR 1.26, 95% CI 1.14-1.39, P<.001; Uganda: 41.2%; RR 1.27, 95% CI 1.16-1.39, P<.001) and lottery incentive arms (Bangladesh: 24.5%%; RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.06-1.29, P=.002; Uganda: 37.9%%; RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.06-1.29, P=.001) than those for the control arm (Bangladesh: 21.0%; Uganda: 32.4%). Conclusions: Promised or lottery airtime incentives improved survey participation and facilitated a large sample within a short period in 2 countries.
AB - Background: Increased mobile phone penetration allows the interviewing of respondents using interactive voice response surveys in low- and middle-income countries. However, there has been little investigation of the best type of incentive to obtain data from a representative sample in these countries. Objective: We assessed the effect of different airtime incentives options on cooperation and response rates of an interactive voice response survey in Bangladesh and Uganda. Methods: The open-label randomized controlled trial had three arms: (1) no incentive (control), (2) promised airtime incentive of 50 Bangladeshi Taka (US $0.60; 1 BDT is approximately equivalent to US $0.012) or 5000 Ugandan Shilling (US $1.35; 1 UGX is approximately equivalent to US $0.00028), and (3) lottery incentive (500 BDT and 100,000 UGX), in which the odds of winning were 1:20. Fully automated random-digit dialing was used to sample eligible participants aged ≥18 years. The risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals for primary outcomes of response and cooperation rates were obtained using log-binomial regression. Results: Between June 14 and July 14, 2017, a total of 546,746 phone calls were made in Bangladesh, with 1165 complete interviews being conducted. Between March 26 and April 22, 2017, a total of 178,572 phone calls were made in Uganda, with 1248 complete interviews being conducted. Cooperation rates were significantly higher for the promised incentive (Bangladesh: 39.3%; RR 1.38, 95% CI 1.24-1.55, P<.001; Uganda: 59.9%; RR 1.47, 95% CI 1.33-1.62, P<.001) and the lottery incentive arms (Bangladesh: 36.6%; RR 1.28, 95% CI 1.15-1.45, P<.001; Uganda: 54.6%; RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.21-1.48, P<.001) than those for the control arm (Bangladesh: 28.4%; Uganda: 40.9%). Similarly, response rates were significantly higher for the promised incentive (Bangladesh: 26.5%%; RR 1.26, 95% CI 1.14-1.39, P<.001; Uganda: 41.2%; RR 1.27, 95% CI 1.16-1.39, P<.001) and lottery incentive arms (Bangladesh: 24.5%%; RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.06-1.29, P=.002; Uganda: 37.9%%; RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.06-1.29, P=.001) than those for the control arm (Bangladesh: 21.0%; Uganda: 32.4%). Conclusions: Promised or lottery airtime incentives improved survey participation and facilitated a large sample within a short period in 2 countries.
KW - Africa
KW - Bangladesh
KW - LMIC
KW - RCT
KW - Uganda
KW - airtime incentive
KW - communicable disease
KW - cooperation
KW - cooperation rate
KW - incentive
KW - interactive voice response
KW - interactive voice response survey
KW - lottery
KW - low income
KW - middle income
KW - mobile phone survey
KW - non-communicable disease
KW - participation
KW - randomized controlled trial
KW - response rate
KW - surveillance
KW - survey
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85129553227&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2196/36943
DO - 10.2196/36943
M3 - Article
C2 - 35532997
AN - SCOPUS:85129553227
SN - 1439-4456
VL - 24
JO - Journal of medical Internet research
JF - Journal of medical Internet research
IS - 5
M1 - e36943
ER -