{"title":"The Good Outcome of Bad News","authors":"Marco Bertoni, L. Corazzini, S. Robone","doi":"10.1086/708930","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"By favoring early diagnosis, mammography screening decreases breast cancer mortality and treatment costs. However, participation in public screening programs is low in many countries. We ran a randomized field experiment to assess whether costless manipulations of the informational content (restricted or enhanced information) and the framing (gain or loss framing) of the invitation letter to the breast cancer screening program in Messina (Italy) affects participation. We show that giving enhanced loss-framed information about the risks of not having a mammography increases the take-up. This manipulation is most effective among subgroups with lower baseline take-ups, thereby reducing inequalities in screening. Finally, subjects exposed to this manipulation are much less likely to postpone the screening conditional on participation, revealing enhanced awareness about the risks related with delayed participation.","PeriodicalId":45056,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health Economics","volume":"6 1","pages":"372 - 409"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1086/708930","citationCount":"7","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Health Economics","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1086/708930","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 7
Abstract
By favoring early diagnosis, mammography screening decreases breast cancer mortality and treatment costs. However, participation in public screening programs is low in many countries. We ran a randomized field experiment to assess whether costless manipulations of the informational content (restricted or enhanced information) and the framing (gain or loss framing) of the invitation letter to the breast cancer screening program in Messina (Italy) affects participation. We show that giving enhanced loss-framed information about the risks of not having a mammography increases the take-up. This manipulation is most effective among subgroups with lower baseline take-ups, thereby reducing inequalities in screening. Finally, subjects exposed to this manipulation are much less likely to postpone the screening conditional on participation, revealing enhanced awareness about the risks related with delayed participation.
期刊介绍:
The American Journal of Health Economics (AJHE) provides a forum for the in-depth analysis of health care markets and individual health behaviors. The articles appearing in AJHE are authored by scholars from universities, private research organizations, government, and industry. Subjects of interest include competition among private insurers, hospitals, and physicians; impacts of public insurance programs, including the Affordable Care Act; pharmaceutical innovation and regulation; medical device supply; the rise of obesity and its consequences; the influence and growth of aging populations; and much more.