ArticlePloS one2020
Measuring the impact of the Capital Card®, a novel form of contingency management, on substance misuse treatment outcomes: A retrospective evaluation.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Contingency management interventions for substance use and addictive behaviours: Review of the United Kingdom evidence base.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Review
- Building recovery capital: co-creating an assets-based community engagement toolkit for people accessing drug and alcohol treatment services.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Music therapy, neural processing, and craving reduction: an RCT protocol for a mixed methods feasibility study in a Community Substance Misuse Treatment Service.Addiction science & clinical practice · 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
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe Capital Card, developed by WDP, is a digital innovation which acts as a form of contingency management, and aims to significantly improve service user outcomes. WDP is a substance misuse treatment provider commissioned by local authorities across the UK to support service users and their families affected by addiction. The Capital Card, much like commercial loyalty cards, uses a simple earn-spend points system which incentivises and rewards service users for engaging with services e.g. by attending key work sessions, Blood Borne Virus appointments or group-work sessions. The Spend activities available to service users are designed to improve overall wellbeing and build social and recovery capital, and include activities such as educational classes, fitness classes, driving lessons, and cinema tickets. METHODS AND
findingsWe compared successful completion rates of 1,545 service users accessing one of WDP's London based community services over a two-year period; before and after the Capital Card was introduced. Client demographics (age, sex and primary substance) were controlled for during the analysis. Once client demographics were controlled for, analysis showed that clients with a Capital Card were 1.5 times more likely to successfully complete treatment than those who had not had the Capital Card (OR = 1.507, 95% CI = 1.194 to 1.902).
conclusionsThe results of this initial evaluation are of particular interest to commissioners and policy makers as it indicates that the Capital Card can be used effectively as a form of contingency management to enhance recovery outcomes for service users engaging in community-based substance misuse services.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.