Studies Show Contingency Management Results Improved When Augmented by App

Results from three recent clinical trials showed that the implementation of a digital addiction recovery platform that augments contingency management programs improved patients’ rates of quitting drugs, alcohol and tobacco by 2 to 3 times vs. those who did not use the app.

The app, created by DynamiCare Health, automates contingency management, and through encouragement and accountability, helps individuals in recovery abstain from using drugs, alcohol and/or tobacco.

“Addiction researchers have known about the astounding effectiveness of motivational incentives for 50 years, but lacked a way to deploy it at scale,” David R. Gastfriend MD, chief medical officer at DynamiCare Health, said in a news release. “The results of these three robust studies demonstrate that DynamiCare can effectively deliver evidence-based interventions for substance use disorders, with greater scalability than ever before.”

A study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that twice as many patients who used the app submitted negative screens at the end of treatment vs. those who did not use the app. Results of the study, which included 61 patients in outpatient treatment for 12 weeks at Gosnold Treatment Center, were published by the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

In a second study, which included 108 patients who engaged in outpatient treatment for 4 months at BrightView in Ohio, Western Michigan University researchers found that patients were 2.2 times as likely to test negative for illicit substances vs. a statistically matched control group. The WMU study also found that patients were more likely to attend treatment sessions. Results of this research were published by the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

The third study, conducted by University of Vermont Researchers, focused on smoking cessation among 60 pregnant women nationwide. Those whose treatment included use of the digital app were 2.8 times more likely to quit smoking by the end of their pregnancy, according to results published in Preventative Medicine.