Trial reportDrug and alcohol dependence2016
Cost-effectiveness of an internet-delivered treatment for substance abuse: Data from a multisite randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digitally Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol and Other Drug Use: Meta-Analysis Across Consumption and Psychosocial Outcomes.JMIR mental health · 2026Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of Internet Interventions Compared With Treatment as Usual for People With Mental Disorders: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Digital interventions in mental health: evidence syntheses and economic modelling.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review of trial-based economic evaluations of internet- and mobile-based interventions for substance use disorders.European journal of public health · 2021Pooled it
- Economic evaluation in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network: Past, present, and future.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2020Pooled it
- Blending Face-to-Face and Internet-Based Interventions for the Treatment of Mental Disorders in Adults: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2017Pooled it
- Internet interventions for adult illicit substance users: a meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2017Pooled it
- Cost-Effectiveness of Linkage Case Management for Hospitalized People With HIV.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Use of an Automated Bilingual Digital Health Tool to Reduce Unhealthy Alcohol Use Among Latino Emergency Department Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of extended-release injectable naltrexone among incarcerated persons with opioid use disorder before release from prison versus after release.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Trial
- Contingency management for alcohol use disorder reduces cannabis use among American Indian and Alaska Native adults.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Trial
- Cost-Effectiveness of Facilitated Access to a Self-Management Website, Compared to Usual Care, for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes (HeLP-Diabetes): Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2018Trial
- Valuing impact: Estimating return on investment of mental health and wellbeing projects for veterans and first responders.PloS one · 2026Article
- FDA-authorized software as a medical device in mental health: a perspective on evidence, device lineage, and regulatory challenges.Npj mental health research · 2025Article
- Overdose risk profiles in pregnancy: Latent class analysis of pregnant individuals with opioid use disorder.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- Digital Contingency Management for Substance Use Disorder Treatment: 12-Month Quasi-Experimental Design.JMIR mental health · 2025Article
- Study assessing the effectiveness of overdose prevention centers through research (SAFER): an overview of the study protocol.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Implementation Facilitation to Promote Emergency Department-Initiated Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder.Annals of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Comparative- and Cost-Effectiveness Research Determining the Optimal Intervention for Advancing Transgender Women With HIV to Full Viral Suppression (Text Me, Alexis!): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- The use of patient navigation to transition detoxification patients to substance use treatment in the Alaska Interior.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSubstance misuse and excessive alcohol consumption are major public health issues. Internet-based interventions for substance use disorders (SUDs) are a relatively new method for addressing barriers to access and supplementing existing care. This study examines cost-effectiveness in a multisite, randomized trial of an internet-based version of the community reinforcement approach (CRA) with contingency management (CM) known as the Therapeutic Education System (TES).
methodsEconomic evaluation of the 12-week trial with follow-up at 24 and 36 weeks. 507 individuals who were seeking therapy for alcohol or other substance use disorders at 10 outpatient community-based treatment programs were recruited and randomized to either treatment as usual (TAU) or TES+TAU. Sub-analyses were completed on participants with a poorer prognosis (i.e., those not abstinent at study entry).
resultsFrom the provider's perspective, TES+TAU as it was implemented in this study costs $278 (SE=87) more than TAU alone after 12 weeks. The quality-adjusted life years gained by TES+TAU and TAU were similar; however, TES+TAU has at least a 95% chance of being considered cost-effective for providers and payers with willingness-to-pay thresholds as low as $20,000 per abstinent year. Findings for the subgroup not abstinent at study entry are slightly more favorable.
conclusionsWith regard to the clinical outcome of abstinence, our cost-effectiveness findings of TES+TAU compare favorably to those found elsewhere in the CM literature. The analyses performed here serve as an initial economic framework for future studies integrating technology into SUD therapy.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.