CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION FEEDBACK IN OUTPATIENT HEROIN DETOXIFICATION

Outpatient detoxification from heroin has been markedly unsuccessful in terminating heroin use. Further, premature termination rates are generally high. In the present study, contingent payment in combination with verbal feedback was used to decrease use of illegal drugs and increase treatment completion rate in an outpatient heroin detoxification clinic and was compared to a standard detoxification treatment condition. Urine test results indicated significantly lower illegal drug use rates and significantly longer sequences of drug-free days for the contingency management condition. Premature termination rates were not significantly lower in the contingency management group. © 1979 Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy.