How do financial (dis)incentives influence health behaviour and costs? Protocol for a systematic literature review of randomised controlled trials

INTRODUCTION: In this era of rising healthcare costs, there is a growing interest in understanding how funding policies can be used to improve health and healthcare efficiency. Financial incentives (eg, vouchers or access to health insurance) or disincentives (eg, fines or out-of-pocket costs) affect behaviours. To date, reviews have explored the effects of financial (dis)incentives on patient health and behaviour by focusing on specific behaviours or geographical areas. The objective of this systematic review is to provide a comprehensive overview on the use of financial (dis)incentives as a means of influencing health-related behaviour and costs in randomised trials. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will search electronic databases, clinical trial registries and websites of health economic organisations for randomised controlled trials. The initial searches, which were conducted on 13 January 2018, will be updated every 12 months until the completion of data analysis. The reference lists of included studies will be manually screened to identify additional eligible studies. Two researchers will independently review titles, abstracts and full texts to determine eligibility according to a set of predetermined inclusion criteria. Data will be extracted from included studies using a form developed and piloted by the research team. Discrepancies will be resolved through discussion with a third reviewer. Risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval is not required since this is a review of published data. Results will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at relevant conferences. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018097140.