Economic and Social Research Institute, Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin, Ireland.
School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 21;13(1):20401. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-47832-z.
Exposure to radon gas is a leading cause of lung cancer. Testing homes for the gas is straightforward, yet most people do not undertake tests even when offered freely. We report a pre-registered randomised controlled trial of communications to encourage test uptake. Households (N = 3500) in areas at high risk of radon exposure were randomly assigned to receive (i) a the control letter from the national Environmental Protection Agency; (ii) a behaviourally-informed version of the control letter that incorporated multiple nudges, including reciprocity messages and numeric frequencies of risk; (iii) this same behaviourally-informed letter in a re-designed envelope; (iv) the behaviourally-informed letter in the re-designed enveloped with a radon risk map of the household's county. The behaviourally-informed letter led to a large increase in test uptake, from 22% in the control condition to 33% (a 50% increase). There was no additional benefit of the re-designed envelope, which generated uptake of 30%. Including the map led some households to respond faster, but the overall uptake (26%) was weaker. The results have implications for public health communications with households and show the potential for techniques from behavioural science to help mitigate environmental risks.
氡气暴露是肺癌的主要成因。检测房屋中的氡气很简单，但大多数人即使有免费检测机会也不接受检测。我们报告了一项预先注册的随机对照试验，旨在通过沟通鼓励人们进行检测。处于高氡暴露风险地区的家庭（N=3500）被随机分配接受以下干预措施：（i）来自国家环境保护局的对照信函；（ii）包含多个提示信息的对照信函，包括互惠信息和风险的数值频率；（iii）重新设计信封的同一条行为信息信函；（iv）重新设计信封的行为信息信函，以及家庭所在县的氡风险地图。行为信息信函导致检测率大幅增加，从对照条件下的 22%增加到 33%（增加 50%）。重新设计的信封没有带来额外的收益，仅增加了 30%的检测率。包含地图会促使一些家庭更快做出回应，但总体检测率（26%）较弱。结果对家庭的公共卫生沟通具有启示意义，并展示了行为科学技术帮助减轻环境风险的潜力。
