Pilot Guaranteed Income Study, Philadelphia, April 2023

Philly Family Trust Study: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of an Unconditional Cash Transfer to Improve Health Behaviors Among Adults With Chronic Diseases

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT05838027

Acronym

PGI

Enrollment

100

Registered

2023-05-01

Start date

2023-04-04

Completion date

2023-10-20

Last updated

2025-03-19

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cardiovascular Diseases

Brief summary

The goal of this pilot clinical trial is to learn about the effects of a short-term unconditional cash transfer (UCT) in people living with poverty and chronic disease (either prediabetes/diabetes or hypertension). The main questions it aims to answer are: * How feasible and acceptable is the intervention? * How are key health behaviors and outcomes affected by the intervention? * What are reasonable effect sizes to expect in a larger trial? Participants will complete surveys and health measurements at two timepoints 3 months apart. Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to the treatment where they will receive a UCT of $1000 over 4 months. Researchers will compare the treatment group to the control group to see if there are improvements in health risk factors directly related to insufficient resources (food and utility security, stress-levels, mental bandwidth), financial outcomes, and health behaviors.

Detailed description

Health behaviors are major, modifiable risk factors for the development and progression of chronic diseases, which account for a large proportion of all deaths in the US and contribute to disparities in premature mortality based on both income and race. There is substantial evidence, for example, that behaviors like smoking, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), as are modifiable factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, and fasting glucose. A growing body of research suggests that poverty may affect health behaviors through financial and psychological pathways. However, few studies have rigorously examined the effects of poverty alleviation interventions on health behaviors, particularly among individuals at high risk for CVD. Even fewer studies have examined potential psychological mechanisms by which anti-poverty interventions might influence health behavior. This pilot project will examine the effect of unconditional cash transfers, an economic intervention that is gaining traction among policymakers, on risk factors for CVD and other chronic diseases. The project will focus on low-income adults in Philadelphia who have at least one health risk factor for CVD (diabetes/pre-diabetes and/or hypertension) and examines whether short-term, unconditional cash transfer payments result in changes in objective and self-reported health outcomes. The second aim examines potential psychological mechanisms through which the cash transfer intervention may affect study participants' behavior, including mental health, psychosocial stress, bandwidth, and future orientation. The third aim uses qualitative methods to understand participants' experiences with this study. The project activities will include developing and testing the cash transfer intervention (Stage 1) as well as basic science analysis of mechanisms of change (Stage 0). Survey and measurement data will be collected from 100 participants at baseline and 3 month follow-up in a two-arm randomized controlled trial (50 in control, 50 in intervention). 16 participants will receive a blood pressure cuff to take home and send measurements weekly to assess the feasibility of at-home measurement (8 control, 8 intervention; half of each group will transmit wirelessly, the other half will not). 30 participants from the 3-month follow-up who are interested in doing an interview will provide additional qualitative data on their experience.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALCash Transfer

Participants will receive $125 every 2 weeks for 8 payments via ClinCard, for a total of $1000.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Intervention model description

At the end of the baseline assessment, participants will be randomized using a permuted block technique with block size of 4 to either usual care (Arm 1) or to the unconditional cash transfer intervention (Arm 2).

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Age 18 years or greater * Pennsylvania Medicaid enrollee * At least one recent clinic visit at Penn Family Care (earliest six months before start of recruitment) * Diagnosis of pre-diabetes/diabetes and/or hypertension * Actively prescribed a medication for diabetes or hypertension * Regular resident of the Philadelphia metro area without plans to leave in the next 6 months

Exclusion criteria

* Does not meet all of the inclusion criteria * Unable to provide consent * Non-English speaker * Cognitive impairment, per principal investigators' discretion

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in Food Security Category	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in food security in the last 30 days as measured by the US Department of Agriculture food security scale. Outcome is 3 ordered categories: high or marginal food security, low food security, very low food security.
Change in Utility Security Category	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in utility security in the last 3 months as measured by the Home Energy Insecurity scale. Outcome is 5 ordered categories: thriving, capable, stable, vulnerable, in-crisis.
Change in Financial Well-being Scale	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in current financial well-being as measured by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Financial Well-Being 0-100 scale (higher scores are correlated to more well-being).
Change in Perceived Stress Scale	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in perceived stress in the last 30 days as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (short form; 0-16, higher scores are correlated to more stress).
Change in State Anxiety Scale	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in current anxiety as measured by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory subscale. The range is from 20-80 with lower scores meaning less anxiety.
Change in Mental Bandwidth	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in number of lapses in the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (more lapses indicate less mental bandwidth).
Change in Health Care Expenditures on Medications	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in number of dollars spent out-of-pocket on medications in the past 30 days.
Change in Adherence to Medication Refills Scale	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in current adherence to refilling medications as measured by that subscale of the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS; 4-16, higher scores indicate lower adherence).

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in Number of Healthy Days	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in self-reported number of healthy days in the past 30 as measured by the CDC Health-Related Quality of Life Scale (0-30 days).
Change in Number of Emergency Department Visits	Once all study appointments are completed, ED visit data will be collected through the Data Analytics Center for the 3-month period before baseline, and the 3-month period after baseline.	We had initially hoped to descriptively summarize these outcomes as part of this pilot study, but the staff member leading our analyses departed during the course of this study and we no longer had someone with the skills and bandwidth to pull, merge, and analyze these data from the electronic health record. For that reason, the data were never collected in this sample and so we have not reported these outcomes
Change in Adherence to Taking Medications Scale	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in current adherence to taking medications as measured by that subscale of the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS; 8-32, higher scores indicate lower adherence).
Change in Number of Health Care Visits (Non-emergency Department)	Once all study appointments are completed, number of health care visits(non-ED) data will be collected through the Data Analytics Center for the 3-month period before baseline, and the 3-month period after baseline.	We had initially hoped to descriptively summarize these outcomes as part of this pilot study, but the staff member leading our analyses departed during the course of this study and we no longer had someone with the skills and bandwidth to pull, merge, and analyze these data from the electronic health record. For that reason, the data were never collected in this sample and so we have not reported these outcomes
Change in Cigarette Dependence Scale	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in current cigarette dependence as measured by the Cigarette Dependence Scale (short version; 5-25, higher scores indicate more dependence).
Change in Alcohol Use Scale	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in current alcohol use as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (0-12, higher scores indicate more use).
Change in All Health Care Expenditures	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in sum of dollars spent out-of-pocket on medications, office visits, and emergency room visits in the past 30 days.
Change in Time Preference (Patience)	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline on current patience which is a single item in the Preference Survey Module (0 completely unwilling to 10 completely willing to give up present benefits for future benefits, higher scores indicate future preference).
Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline on current snack choice (binary: chose a more or a less healthy snack, choosing a healthy snack indicates future preference).
Change in Psychological Distress Scale	Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months	Change from baseline in psychological distress in the past 30 days as measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6+, 6-30, higher scores indicate more distress).

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Pre-assignment details

1,132 individuals were contacted via the electronic health portal. 242 completed the interest form, and of those 142 were excluded due to ineligibility, not interested, unable to contact or unable to schedule. 100 were enrolled and randomized.

Participants by arm

Arm	Count
Control No intervention	50
Cash Transfer Participants will receive $125 every 2 weeks for 8 payments via ClinCard, for a total of $1000. Cash Transfer: Participants will receive $125 every 2 weeks for 8 payments via ClinCard, for a total of $1000.	50
Total	100

Withdrawals & dropouts

Period	Reason	FG000	FG001
Overall Study	Lost to Follow-up	5	1
Overall Study	Withdrawal by Subject	1	0

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic	Cash Transfer	Control	Total
Age, Continuous	48.5 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 11.5	45.2 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.9	46.9 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 10.7
BMI Healthy	1 Participants	1 Participants	2 Participants
BMI Obesity	39 Participants	44 Participants	83 Participants
BMI Overweight	10 Participants	5 Participants	15 Participants
Education Associates/Bachelors+	18 Participants	14 Participants	32 Participants
Education Completed HS/GED	15 Participants	21 Participants	36 Participants
Education Less than HS	2 Participants	4 Participants	6 Participants
Education Some College	15 Participants	11 Participants	26 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino	3 Participants	0 Participants	3 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino	47 Participants	50 Participants	97 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported	0 Participants	0 Participants	0 Participants
For those with ANY income from a job over the past 3 months (n=52), number of hours worked	37.3 Hours STANDARD_DEVIATION 13.3	30.8 Hours STANDARD_DEVIATION 17.8	34.1 Hours STANDARD_DEVIATION 15.6
Household Income $10,000 to $14,999	7 Participants	11 Participants	18 Participants
Household Income $15,000 to $24,999	9 Participants	9 Participants	18 Participants
Household Income $25,000 to $34,999	11 Participants	6 Participants	17 Participants
Household Income $35,000 to $49,999	9 Participants	5 Participants	14 Participants
Household Income $50,000 to $74,999	3 Participants	3 Participants	6 Participants
Household Income $75,000 to $99,999	1 Participants	2 Participants	3 Participants
Household Income Less than $10,000	10 Participants	14 Participants	24 Participants
Income at the Federal Poverty Level 100-133% of federal poverty level	9 Participants	5 Participants	14 Participants
Income at the Federal Poverty Level 133%+ of federal poverty level	14 Participants	12 Participants	26 Participants
Income at the Federal Poverty Level 50-75% of federal poverty level	7 Participants	9 Participants	16 Participants
Income at the Federal Poverty Level <50% of federal poverty level	9 Participants	16 Participants	25 Participants
Income at the Federal Poverty Level 75-100% of federal poverty level	11 Participants	8 Participants	19 Participants
Kids in household No	26 Participants	23 Participants	49 Participants
Kids in household Yes	24 Participants	27 Participants	51 Participants
Living situation Elsewhere	11 Participants	10 Participants	21 Participants
Living situation Own	15 Participants	8 Participants	23 Participants
Living situation Rent	24 Participants	32 Participants	56 Participants
Main income source A Job	27 Participants	23 Participants	50 Participants
Main income source Disability or Social Security	14 Participants	8 Participants	22 Participants
Main income source Family or friends	2 Participants	9 Participants	11 Participants
Main income source Hustling (e.g., petty theft)	0 Participants	1 Participants	1 Participants
Main income source SNAP (Food Stamps)	4 Participants	6 Participants	10 Participants
Main income source TANF (Cash Assistance/Welfare)	0 Participants	2 Participants	2 Participants
Main income source Unemployment	2 Participants	0 Participants	2 Participants
Main income source Veteran Benefits	1 Participants	1 Participants	2 Participants
Marital status Married/Partnered	10 Participants	13 Participants	23 Participants
Marital status Single	29 Participants	29 Participants	58 Participants
Marital status Widow/Divorced/Separated	11 Participants	8 Participants	19 Participants
Number of people in household	3.1 Number of people in household STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.3	2.8 Number of people in household STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.7	3.0 Number of people in household STANDARD_DEVIATION 2
On government assistance No	15 Participants	14 Participants	29 Participants
On government assistance Yes	35 Participants	36 Participants	71 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native	0 Participants	0 Participants	0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Asian	0 Participants	0 Participants	0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American	45 Participants	45 Participants	90 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race	1 Participants	3 Participants	4 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0 Participants	0 Participants	0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported	2 Participants	0 Participants	2 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) White	2 Participants	2 Participants	4 Participants
Region of Enrollment United States	50 Participants	50 Participants	100 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Female	41 Participants	37 Participants	78 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Male	9 Participants	13 Participants	22 Participants
Sexual Orientation LGBTQ+	2 Participants	7 Participants	9 Participants
Sexual Orientation Prefer not to say	1 Participants	1 Participants	2 Participants
Sexual Orientation Straight/Heterosexual	47 Participants	42 Participants	89 Participants
Type of job For Profit Org/Company	13 Participants	11 Participants	24 Participants
Type of job Government (Local, State, Federal)	4 Participants	3 Participants	7 Participants
Type of job Non-Profit Org	2 Participants	3 Participants	5 Participants
Type of job Other	8 Participants	7 Participants	15 Participants
Type of job Owner non-incorporated business	0 Participants	1 Participants	1 Participants
Work and School No School or Work	23 Participants	27 Participants	50 Participants
Work and School School and Work	3 Participants	1 Participants	4 Participants
Work and School Work	24 Participants	22 Participants	46 Participants

Adverse events

Event type	EG000 affected / at risk	EG001 affected / at risk	EG002 affected / at risk	EG003 affected / at risk
deaths Total, all-cause mortality	0 / 50	0 / 49	0 / 50	0 / 44
other Total, other adverse events	0 / 50	0 / 49	0 / 50	0 / 44
serious Total, serious adverse events	0 / 50	0 / 49	0 / 50	0 / 44

Outcome results

Primary

Change in Adherence to Medication Refills Scale

Change from baseline in current adherence to refilling medications as measured by that subscale of the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS; 4-16, higher scores indicate lower adherence).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Adherence to Medication Refills Scale	6.9 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 1.4
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Adherence to Medication Refills Scale	6.6 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 1.1
Control Baseline	Change in Adherence to Medication Refills Scale	6.5 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 1.1
Control Follow-up	Change in Adherence to Medication Refills Scale	6.9 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 1.3

95% CI: [-1.29, -0.21]

Primary

Change in Financial Well-being Scale

Change from baseline in current financial well-being as measured by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Financial Well-Being 0-100 scale (higher scores are correlated to more well-being).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Financial Well-being Scale	44 scores on a scale	Standard Deviation 12
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Financial Well-being Scale	44 scores on a scale	Standard Deviation 10
Control Baseline	Change in Financial Well-being Scale	47 scores on a scale	Standard Deviation 11
Control Follow-up	Change in Financial Well-being Scale	46 scores on a scale	Standard Deviation 13

95% CI: [-3.78, 4.82]

Primary

Change in Food Security Category

Change from baseline in food security in the last 30 days as measured by the US Department of Agriculture food security scale. Outcome is 3 ordered categories: high or marginal food security, low food security, very low food security.

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Population: 100 enrolled participants at baseline and 93 participants at 3-month follow-up.

Arm	Measure	Group	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Food Security Category	High or marginal	27 Participants
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Food Security Category	Very low	17 Participants
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Food Security Category	Low	6 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Food Security Category	High or marginal	19 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Food Security Category	Very low	14 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Food Security Category	Low	15 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Food Security Category	Low	18 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Food Security Category	High or marginal	16 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Food Security Category	Very low	14 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Food Security Category	High or marginal	23 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Food Security Category	Very low	13 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Food Security Category	Low	7 Participants

95% CI: [0.84, 12.55]

Primary

Change in Health Care Expenditures on Medications

Change from baseline in number of dollars spent out-of-pocket on medications in the past 30 days.

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Health Care Expenditures on Medications	12 Dollars	Standard Deviation 21
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Health Care Expenditures on Medications	23 Dollars	Standard Deviation 45
Control Baseline	Change in Health Care Expenditures on Medications	10 Dollars	Standard Deviation 15
Control Follow-up	Change in Health Care Expenditures on Medications	18 Dollars	Standard Deviation 48

95% CI: [0.46, 2.74]

Primary

Change in Mental Bandwidth

Change from baseline in number of lapses in the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (more lapses indicate less mental bandwidth).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Mental Bandwidth	9.0 Change in Lapses	Standard Deviation 12
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Mental Bandwidth	8.8 Change in Lapses	Standard Deviation 13
Control Baseline	Change in Mental Bandwidth	11.1 Change in Lapses	Standard Deviation 16
Control Follow-up	Change in Mental Bandwidth	12.0 Change in Lapses	Standard Deviation 13

95% CI: [-5.45, 4.16]

Primary

Change in Perceived Stress Scale

Change from baseline in perceived stress in the last 30 days as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (short form; 0-16, higher scores are correlated to more stress).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Perceived Stress Scale	7.2 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3.2
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Perceived Stress Scale	7.1 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3.1
Control Baseline	Change in Perceived Stress Scale	7.4 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3.3
Control Follow-up	Change in Perceived Stress Scale	7.0 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3.4

95% CI: [-1.01, 1.4]

Primary

Change in State Anxiety Scale

Change from baseline in current anxiety as measured by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory subscale. The range is from 20-80 with lower scores meaning less anxiety.

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in State Anxiety Scale	38 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 14
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in State Anxiety Scale	35 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 12
Control Baseline	Change in State Anxiety Scale	40 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 13
Control Follow-up	Change in State Anxiety Scale	41 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 13

95% CI: [-7.43, 2]

Primary

Change in Utility Security Category

Change from baseline in utility security in the last 3 months as measured by the Home Energy Insecurity scale. Outcome is 5 ordered categories: thriving, capable, stable, vulnerable, in-crisis.

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Category	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	Capable	8 Participants
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	Vulnerable	11 Participants
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	Thriving	3 Participants
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	Stable	9 Participants
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	In-crisis	19 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	Stable	9 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	Capable	5 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	Thriving	8 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	Vulnerable	11 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	In-crisis	15 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	Stable	11 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	In-crisis	17 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	Vulnerable	10 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	Capable	8 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Utility Security Category	Thriving	4 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	Capable	5 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	Vulnerable	7 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	In-crisis	14 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	Stable	7 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Utility Security Category	Thriving	10 Participants

95% CI: [0.24, 2.64]

Secondary

Change in Adherence to Taking Medications Scale

Change from baseline in current adherence to taking medications as measured by that subscale of the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS; 8-32, higher scores indicate lower adherence).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Adherence to Taking Medications Scale	11 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Adherence to Taking Medications Scale	10 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 2
Control Baseline	Change in Adherence to Taking Medications Scale	11 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3
Control Follow-up	Change in Adherence to Taking Medications Scale	11 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3

95% CI: [-1.74, 0.36]

Secondary

Change in Alcohol Use Scale

Change from baseline in current alcohol use as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (0-12, higher scores indicate more use).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Alcohol Use Scale	1.5 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 1.6
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Alcohol Use Scale	1.6 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 1.5
Control Baseline	Change in Alcohol Use Scale	1.5 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 1.8
Control Follow-up	Change in Alcohol Use Scale	1.5 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 1.7

95% CI: [-0.32, 0.58]

Secondary

Change in All Health Care Expenditures

Change from baseline in sum of dollars spent out-of-pocket on medications, office visits, and emergency room visits in the past 30 days.

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in All Health Care Expenditures	19 dollars	Standard Deviation 31
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in All Health Care Expenditures	35 dollars	Standard Deviation 73
Control Baseline	Change in All Health Care Expenditures	12 dollars	Standard Deviation 17
Control Follow-up	Change in All Health Care Expenditures	35 dollars	Standard Deviation 87

95% CI: [0.23, 1.63]

Secondary

Change in Cigarette Dependence Scale

Change from baseline in current cigarette dependence as measured by the Cigarette Dependence Scale (short version; 5-25, higher scores indicate more dependence).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Cigarette Dependence Scale	14 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 4
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Cigarette Dependence Scale	15 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 4
Control Baseline	Change in Cigarette Dependence Scale	14 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 4
Control Follow-up	Change in Cigarette Dependence Scale	14 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 4

95% CI: [-1.9, 3.03]

Secondary

Change in Number of Emergency Department Visits

We had initially hoped to descriptively summarize these outcomes as part of this pilot study, but the staff member leading our analyses departed during the course of this study and we no longer had someone with the skills and bandwidth to pull, merge, and analyze these data from the electronic health record. For that reason, the data were never collected in this sample and so we have not reported these outcomes

Time frame: Once all study appointments are completed, ED visit data will be collected through the Data Analytics Center for the 3-month period before baseline, and the 3-month period after baseline.

Secondary

Change in Number of Health Care Visits (Non-emergency Department)

Time frame: Once all study appointments are completed, number of health care visits(non-ED) data will be collected through the Data Analytics Center for the 3-month period before baseline, and the 3-month period after baseline.

Secondary

Change in Number of Healthy Days

Change from baseline in self-reported number of healthy days in the past 30 as measured by the CDC Health-Related Quality of Life Scale (0-30 days).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Number of Healthy Days	12 days	Standard Deviation 11
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Number of Healthy Days	15 days	Standard Deviation 11
Control Baseline	Change in Number of Healthy Days	14 days	Standard Deviation 11
Control Follow-up	Change in Number of Healthy Days	15 days	Standard Deviation 11

95% CI: [-1.35, 6.8]

Secondary

Change in Psychological Distress Scale

Change from baseline in psychological distress in the past 30 days as measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6+, 6-30, higher scores indicate more distress).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Psychological Distress Scale	13 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 6
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Psychological Distress Scale	12 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 5
Control Baseline	Change in Psychological Distress Scale	13 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 6
Control Follow-up	Change in Psychological Distress Scale	14 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 5

95% CI: [-2.64, 0.43]

Secondary

Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)

Change from baseline on current snack choice (binary: chose a more or a less healthy snack, choosing a healthy snack indicates future preference).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Group	Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	No Selection	3 Participants
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	Selected Fruit	40 Participants
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	Selected Snack	7 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	Selected Fruit	27 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	No Selection	7 Participants
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	Selected Snack	15 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	Selected Snack	12 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	Selected Fruit	33 Participants
Control Baseline	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	No Selection	5 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	Selected Fruit	20 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	No Selection	3 Participants
Control Follow-up	Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)	Selected Snack	21 Participants

95% CI: [0.19, 5.49]

Secondary

Change in Time Preference (Patience)

Change from baseline on current patience which is a single item in the Preference Survey Module (0 completely unwilling to 10 completely willing to give up present benefits for future benefits, higher scores indicate future preference).

Time frame: Assessed at 1-hour appointment at baseline and 3 months

Arm	Measure	Value (MEAN)	Dispersion
Cash Transfer Baseline	Change in Time Preference (Patience)	6.8 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3.5
Cash Transfer Follow-up	Change in Time Preference (Patience)	8 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 2.7
Control Baseline	Change in Time Preference (Patience)	6.5 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3.5
Control Follow-up	Change in Time Preference (Patience)	6.7 score on a scale	Standard Deviation 3.2

95% CI: [-0.54, 2.64]

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026

Pilot Guaranteed Income Study, Philadelphia, April 2023

Conditions

Brief summary

Detailed description

Related papers

Interventions

Sponsors

Study design

Intervention model description

Eligibility

Inclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

Design outcomes

Primary

Secondary

Countries

Participant flow

Pre-assignment details

Participants by arm

Withdrawals & dropouts

Baseline characteristics

Adverse events

Outcome results

Change in Adherence to Medication Refills Scale

Change in Financial Well-being Scale

Change in Food Security Category

Change in Health Care Expenditures on Medications

Change in Mental Bandwidth

Change in Perceived Stress Scale

Change in State Anxiety Scale

Change in Utility Security Category

Change in Adherence to Taking Medications Scale

Change in Alcohol Use Scale

Change in All Health Care Expenditures

Change in Cigarette Dependence Scale

Change in Number of Emergency Department Visits

Change in Number of Health Care Visits (Non-emergency Department)

Change in Number of Healthy Days

Change in Psychological Distress Scale

Change in Time Preference (Behavioral Task)

Change in Time Preference (Patience)