Effectiveness of motivational incentives in stimulant abusing outpatients with different treatment histories.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if prize-based abstinence incentives will differentially affect substance abuse outcomes in patients with different treatment histories.


METHODS
Treatment seeking outpatients with more or less prior treatment episodes were randomized to receive either prize-based incentives plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU alone. Outcome variables included longest sustained period of abstinence, number of negative urine drug screens (UDS), and retention in treatment.


RESULTS
Treatment experienced participants were older, more likely to be female, African American, unemployed, and with more severe cocaine and psychiatric problems. The effectiveness of incentives did not differ significantly between the two treatment history groups with regard to the outcome measures.
Killeen
Therese
T
Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Neuroscience Division, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA. killeent@musc.edu
Carter
Rickey
R
Copersino
Marc
M
Petry
Nancy
N
Stitzer
Maxine
M
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D009042:Motivation; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000652:urine; D014478:Unemployment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants