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. 2023 Feb;37(2):228-232.
doi: 10.1177/08901171221119796. Epub 2022 Aug 25.

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

Caitlin Turbyfill  1   2 , Isabel Thomas  1   2 , Namita Agravat  1 , Joanna M Prasher  1 , Randall J Nett  1 , Melody Stevens  1 , Jessica N Ricaldi  1 , Tambra M Dunams  1 , Latasha Brickhouse-Frazier  1 , Melissa D Carter  3 , Yonathan Gebru  1 , Ashley King  1 , Coral S May  4 , Joseph D Miller  3 , Chigo Oguh  5 , Amanda Pullman  1 , Kaylin Roman  1 , Charles Rose  1 , Robert Scherr  4 , Turquoise Sidibe  6 , Rieza Soelaeman  1 , Jonathan Weinstein  5 , Todd Wilson  1 , Cuc H Tran  1
Affiliations

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

Caitlin Turbyfill et al. Am J Health Promot. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; community testing; health behavior; incentives; pandemic.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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