Should we pay the patient: review of financial incentives to enhance patient compliance

CRD COMMENTARY:

The literature search seems comprehensive. The inclusion criteria were clearly described and the details of individual studies presented. Although the study validity was not formally assessed, the authors examined randomisation procedure of trials, and also revealed that prior power calculation was not carried out in the included trials. It should be noted that positive study in this review was defined as those in which odds ratio was greater than 1.0, without considering the result (e.g., p value) of statistical test. The sample sizes of the included studies are very small, and the risk of publication bias may be considerable. Review's conclusions seem appropriate.