Prize-linked Savings Initiatives for Promoting Better Health and Economic Outcomes in Kenya

NCT04013295 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 830084
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 300
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Transactional sex is widely believed to be among the driving factors for the high HIV rates among adolescent girls and young women in Kenya. We will pilot a randomized trial among men in Kenya to assess whether prize-linked savings opportunities reduce spending on transactional sex. The project will randomize men to the savings intervention and assess changes in key economic and self-reported health outcomes over a 3-6 month period.

Conditions

HIV/AIDS

Keywords

HIV; transactional sex; prize-linked savings; savings

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Increase in savings balance

  This is a binary variable equal to 1 if the respondent's savings balance increased over the study period, and zero otherwise.

  Measured throughout follow-up period (approx 3 months)

• Savings balance

  Total increase in savings balance over the study period (continuous measure)

  Measured throughout follow-up period (approx 3 months)

• Expenditures on alcohol

  Total spending on alcohol in past 7 days

  Recall period: past 7 days, measured in endline survey (approx 3 months after enrollment)

• Participation in and expenditures on transactional sex

  Total spending on transactional sex in past month, and binary indicator for any spending

  Recall period: past month, measured in endline survey (approx 3 months after enrollment)

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Savings

  approx 3 month follow up period

• Expenditures on food

  Recall period: past 7 days, measured in endline survey

• Expenditures on non-food items

  Recall period: past 7 days, measured in endline survey

Study Arms (2)

Prize-linked savings intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the intervention group will be assisted with opening bank accounts at the partner bank and will be eligible for monetary rewards linked to the amount they save in these project accounts. During the intervention period, information about participants' savings activities will be shared with the study team at regular intervals by the bank. Winners will learn of their prize via text message and will have their prize money deposited into their accounts. Respondents who did not win the lottery will also receive a text message, which will remind them to save.

Other: Prize-linked savings

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants will be eligible for prizes based on the amount by which their account balance goes up in each period (e.g. for every 100 Ksh by which savings increases, participants get an entry into a lottery for monetary rewards where they have a small probability of winning a larger amount, or a larger probability of winning a smaller amount of money). This type of prize-linked savings intervention has been shown to promote savings in other settings. Other intervention components may include education materials to explain how the prize-linked savings incentives work and that emphasize the potential benefits of saving money. Participants in the intervention group will be encouraged to have more consideration for their future health and economic status, as this may motivate them to save more money. They will also be encouraged to consider the opportunity and health cost of their expenditures on alcohol and transactional sex and not miss the opportunity to win prizes by saving money.

Interventions

Prize-linked savings OTHER

Participants will be eligible for prizes based on the amount by which their account balance goes up in each period (e.g. for every 100 Ksh by which savings increases, participants get an entry into a lottery for monetary rewards where they have a small probability of winning a larger amount, or a larger probability of winning a smaller amount of money). This type of prize-linked savings intervention has been shown to promote savings in other settings. Other intervention components may include education materials to explain how the prize-linked savings incentives work and that emphasize the potential benefits of saving money. Participants in the intervention group will be encouraged to have more consideration for their future health and economic status, as this may motivate them to save more money. They will also be encouraged to consider the opportunity and health cost of their expenditures on alcohol and transactional sex and not miss the opportunity to win prizes by saving money.

Prize-linked savings intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 21 Years+
• Sex: male
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Resident in selected shoreline communities and their hinterlands in Siaya County, Kenya
• Male
• Age 21 years and above
• Primary or secondary occupation is fishing or transportation (i.e. motorbike taxi driver)
• Owns mobile phone
• Is willing to open savings account with a local bank and has, or is willing to obtain, the necessary documents (national identification card, Kenya Revenue authority PIN) to do so

You may not qualify if:

• Planning to relocate from study communities in the next 6 months
• Does not express willingness to open a savings account

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pennsylvania: lead
• Impact Research & Development Organization: collaborator
• Innovations for Poverty Action: collaborator
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Moscoe E, Agot K, Thirumurthy H. Effect of a Prize-Linked Savings Intervention on Savings and Healthy Behaviors Among Men in Kenya: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Sep 4;2(9):e1911162. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.11162.

  PMID: 31517964 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

HIV Infections; Blood-Borne Infections; Communicable Diseases; Infections; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Lentivirus Infections; Retroviridae Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Slow Virus Diseases; Genital Diseases; Urogenital Diseases; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes; Immune System Diseases

Study Officials

• Harsha Thirumurthy

  University of Pennsylvania

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 3, 2019
• First Posted: July 9, 2019
• Study Start: September 3, 2018
• Primary Completion: December 18, 2018
• Study Completion: December 18, 2018
• Last Updated: April 21, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)