Incentives for Diabetic eye screening
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Incentive in Diabetic Eye Assessment by Screening (IDEAS) Trial
IRAS ID
157317
Contact name
Colin Bicknell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
14SM2198., DOCUMAS
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
There are 2.9 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK. Diabetes can affect the eyes and if left untreated can lead to loss of vision. Often the disease progression is slow and by the time symptoms are recognised by patients it is too late for effective treatment. Screening for diabetic eye disease involves taking a digital photograph of the eye and is offered to all people of 12 years old and above diagnosed with diabetes.
There are many schemes in action that use incentives to improve health such as weight loss schemes and smoking cessation. But there is no evidence that these work - and so wasting money.
The effectiveness of screening is dependent on good uptake by the population. We propose an incentive programme as part of a randomized controlled trial to encourage people, particularly those from disadvantaged communities to attend diabetic eye screening.
Patients, aged 16 or older, who were invited to screening the in the last 12 months and failed to attend or contact the screening service to rearrange an appointment will be studied. Three groups will be studied: The first will be a control group and simply receive documentation on diabetic eye screening and the screening programme only. Other groups will receive either a small amount (£10) to cover the cost of their time and travel, given the sum in the form of £10 fake banknote to exchange at the clinic after screening which expires if they did not attend within 30 days, or be offered the chance of being in a lottery draw if they attend (with a 1 in 100 chance of winning £1000). By studying the differences in uptake of screening appointments in each group we can determine the effect of incentive schemes in attracting people to their screening appointments.
REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1779
Date of REC Opinion
14 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion