Using prize-based incentives to enhance daily interactive voice response (IVR) compliance: A feasibility study

This study examined the feasibility of a prize-based contingency-management (CM) approach to encourage interactive voice response (IVR) compliance in a cocaine-treatment study and explored the association between IVR call rate and outcome during a cocaine abstinence-induction trial. Subjects called into the IVR system daily to complete a brief interview assessing cocaine use for the past 24 hours. One group earned $1 for each call; the other earned one draw per call from a “prize bowl” with a range of awards. Abstinence was rewarded according to a high-value voucher incentive schedule, which was the same for both groups, and confirmed by thrice-weekly urine testing at clinic visits. Odds of calling were 4.7 times greater (95% CI: 1.23, 17.91) in the prize-CM group than in the fixed dollar CM group. In addition, the percentage of IVR calls was significantly associated with abstinence achievement, χ2 (1) = 5.147, p < .023. The use of prize-based CM to increase the use of IVR is feasible and deserves examination as an innovation for helping participants engage in treatment.