Patients with opioid use disorder can reduce their days of opioid use and stay in treatment longer when using a smartphone app as supportive therapy in combination with medication, a new study by The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) shows. The cohort study of 600 underserved patients found that those who chose to use the app – which combines contingency management behavioral therapy and recovery support from peers – and alongside medication, reduced their days of opioid use by 35% compared with those treated with medication only. Additionally, app users remained in treatment nearly 19% longer than those treated with medication alone.
These findings suggest that augmenting medication for opioid use disorder with app-based contingency management may provide clinical benefits for underserved patients. Expanding the availability of app-based contingency management may contribute to decreasing the immense societal, economic and personal burden of opioid use." Elise Marino, PhD, director of research operations at UT Health San Antonio's Be Well Institute on Substance Use and Related Disorders Marino is lead author of the study, titled, "Smartphone App-Based Contingency Management and Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Outcomes," published Dec.
2 in JAMA Network Open. The other authors also are with UT Health San Antonio's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Be Well Institute. A need to augment medication Opioid use.
