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Contingency management for smoking cessation among treatment-seeking patients in a community setting

Abstract:

Background: Contingency management (CM) is an efficacious intervention for reducing cigarette smoking. However, CM is rarely adopted as a smoking cessation treatment in the community. This study analyzed the effectiveness of a CM procedure in combination with a cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) for smoking cessation among treatment-seeking patients from the general population. Methods: A total of 92 patients were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions: CBT (N= 49) or CBT. +. CM (N= 43). The CM procedure included a voucher program through which nicotine abstinence was reinforced on a schedule of escalating magnitude of reinforcement with a reset contingency. Self-reported smoking status was confirmed with both carbon monoxide (CO) level in expired air and cotinine levels in urine. Results: Of the patients who received CBT. +. CM 97.7%, completed 6 weeks of treatment, versus 81.6% of those who received CBT (p= .03). At the post-treatment assessment, 95.3% of the patients assigned to the CBT. +. CM condition achieved abstinence in comparison to the 59.2% in the CBT group (p= .000). At the one-month follow-up, 72.1% of the patients who received CBT. +. CM maintained smoking abstinence, versus 34.7% in the CBT group (p= .001). At the six-month follow-up, 51.2% of the patients who received CBT. +. CM maintained smoking abstinence in comparison to the 28.6% in the CBT group (p= .04). Conclusions: Results from this randomized clinical trial showed that adding CM to a CBT is effective, and is feasible as an intervention approach with treatment-seeking patients in a community setting.