Trial reportAIDS patient care and STDs2018
A Conditional Economic Incentive Fails to Improve Linkage to Care and Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation Among HIV-Positive Adults in Cape Town, South Africa.
Trial report in AIDS patient care and STDs, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Impact of Behavioural Economics-Informed Interventions on the Care Cascade for Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2026Pooled it
- Strategies for improving linkage to HIV care after hospital discharge among adults living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- The effectiveness of monetary incentives in improving viral suppression, treatment adherence, and retention in care among the general population of people living with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis.AIDS research and therapy · 2025Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of Linkage-to-Care and Antiretroviral Initiation Implementation Strategies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Across Sub-Saharan Africa.AIDS and behavior · 2022Pooled it
- The Utilisation of Payment Models Across the HIV Continuum of Care: Systematic Review of Evidence.AIDS and behavior · 2021Pooled it
- Interventions to Improve Linkage to HIV Care in the Era of "Treat All" in Sub-Saharan Africa: a Systematic Review.Current HIV/AIDS reports · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Impact of family networks on uptake of health interventions: evidence from a community-randomized control trial aimed at increasing HIV testing in South Africa.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Home-Based Intervention to Test and Start (HITS): a community-randomized controlled trial to increase HIV testing uptake among men in rural South Africa.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2021Trial
- Factors affecting linkage to HIV care and ART initiation following referral for ART by a mobile health clinic in South Africa: evidence from a multimethod study.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2019Trial
- Financial incentives for achieving and maintaining viral suppression among HIV-positive adults in Uganda: a randomised controlled trial.The lancet. HIV · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Incentive-based interventions to improve HIV prevention and care continuum: a global systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Consolidated guidance for behavioral intervention pilot and feasibility studies.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2024Article
- Understanding effective post-test linkage strategies for HIV prevention and care: a scoping review.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2024Article
- Expert Perspectives on Pilot and Feasibility Studies: A Delphi Study and Consolidation of Considerations for Behavioral Interventions.Research square · 2023Article
- Perceptions toward antiretroviral therapy and delayed ART initiation among people living with HIV in Changsha, China: mediating effects of treatment willingness.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Applying Behavioural Insights to HIV Prevention and Management: a Scoping Review.Current HIV/AIDS reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Interventions to improve antiretroviral therapy (ART) access are urgently needed to maximize the multiple benefits from ART. This pilot study examined the effect of a conditional economic incentive on linkage to care and uptake of treatment following ART referral by a mobile health clinic. Between April 2015 and May 2016, 86 individuals (≥18 years old) referred for ART in a resource-limited setting were randomized (1:1) to a control group or to an incentive: R300 cash (∼$23, or 3.5 days minimum wage in the domestic worker sector), conditional upon starting ART within 3 months. Outcome data were obtained from clinic records. The incentive effects on linkage to care (first clinic visit within 3 months) and ART initiation (treatment uptake within 3 months) were assessed using logistic regression. Overall, 67% linked to care and 42% initiated ART within 3 months after referral. No significant differences were found between the incentive and non-incentive group in terms of linkage to care [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.26-1.91] and initiation of ART (aOR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.26-1.78). Ordinary least-squares regression analysis showed that incentivized individuals linked to care in fewer days (-7.9, 95% CI: -18.09 to 2.26) and started treatment in fewer days (-7.3, 95% CI: -27.01 to 12.38), but neither result was statistically significant. Our findings demonstrate poor treatment uptake by both the intervention and control participants and further highlight the challenge in achieving universal early treatment access. Further research is required to understand how economic incentives, which have been shown to have many benefits, can be applied to improve linkage to HIV care and treatment.
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