Cash incentives drive weight loss in men

The Game of Stones research study offered men £400 for losing weight

Weighing scales.

A major UK study led by health experts at the University of Stirling in partnership with the universities of Bristol; New Brunswick, Canada; Aberdeen; Glasgow and Queen’s University Belfast, has found that offering text messages with financial incentives is effective in helping men to lose weight.

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RAPID-Test trial completes recruitment early

A major clinical trial investigating whether GP use of rapid diagnostic tests for respiratory (chest) infections can reduce same-day antibiotic prescribing in primary care has completed recruitment early.

Home testing for respiratory infection as mum puts swab into the nose of her son sitting on a kitchen desk.

The RAPID-TEST trial, led by Professor Alastair Hay at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol, originally aimed to complete recruitment of 514 patients by September 2024. With enormous interest in the trial from GP practices across the Bristol, Bath, Swindon, North/North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire areas, the target was met five months early.

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