Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40128826›Full record

ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2025

Mobile telephone contingency management to encourage adherence to supervised medication among individuals most at risk of non-adherence to opioid agonist treatment: a study protocol for a feasibility study (TIES2).

Nicola Metrebian, Carol-Ann Getty, Ewan Carr, Timothy Weaver, Stephen Pilling, Mike Kelleher, Jenny Scott, John Strang

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Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Nicola MetrebianNational Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AB, UK. Nicola.metrebian@kcl.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3581-1703
Carol-Ann GettyNational Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AB, UK.
Ewan CarrBiostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AB, UK.
Timothy WeaverDepartment of Mental Health, Social Work and Integrative Medicine, School of Health and Education, Middlesex University, London, NW4 4BT, UK.
Stephen PillingResearch Department of Clinical Health and Educational Psychology, University College London, London, WC1 7HB, UK.
Mike KelleherSouth London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Lambeth Addictions Consortium, 12-14 Brighton Terrace, Brixton, London, SW9 8DG, UK.
Jenny ScottCentre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC), Bristol Medical School, Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Canynge Hall, 39 Whatley Road, Bristol, BS8 2PS, UK.
John StrangNational Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AB, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSupervision of opioid agonist treatment (OAT) ensures that individuals take their correct daily dose to minimise withdrawal and craving, safeguard against diversion and overdose, and receive optimal benefit from OAT. There is an urgent need to develop effective interventions to increase medication adherence and technological solutions to streamline communication between pharmacies and prescribers. The authors have developed technology to deliver contingency management (CM) remotely by mobile telephone (mCM) and alert prescribers of missed doses. In a previous feasibility study, the authors found mCM was feasible to deliver and acceptable to patients, prescribers, and pharmacists but encountered difficulty recruiting patients starting methadone treatment. Since COVID-19, supervision guidelines have changed to focus on patients at risk of/not adhering to their medication. This study aims to assess the feasibility of conducting a future confirmatory trial to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of mCM to encourage adherence with supervised methadone or buprenorphine. It will use broader eligibility criteria, including patients receiving buprenorphine, and target a revised group of serial re-starters.

methodsUsing a cluster randomised design, three drug services will be randomised 1:1:1 and 20 patients, attending seven pharmacies linked to each service, will be recruited (i.e. a total of N = 60). Each drug service providing supervised medication will be randomly allocated to deliver: (i) telephone-delivered text-message reinforcement with modest financial incentives; (ii) telephone-delivered text-message reminders; or (iii) no telephone text-messages. Prescribers will receive reports of patient attendance. Feasibility will be determined based on four progression criteria: the number of patients enrolled, the percentage of screened patients who are eligible, adherence to the telephone system, based on matches between sign-in at the pharmacy and pharmacy dispensing records and follow-up rates. We will also undertake qualitative assessments of clinicians' perspectives on the revised eligibility criteria undertaken. DISCUSSION: This study will assess the feasibility of using mCM to target a clinically important group of patients non-adhering to their supervised medication. In the future, and if effective, mCM will encourage medication adherence among patients, enabling them to achieve an optimum dose and full benefit from OAT.

trial registrationISRCTN33965312 (26/06/2023). This manuscript was submitted on February 27th, 2024. While recruitment was due to end on February 29th, we recruited our last patient on February 12th. The last patient/last visit took place on May 2nd, 2024.

Indexed as

Behavioural reinforcementBuprenorphineContingency managementFinancial incentivesHeroin useMedication adherenceMethadoneOpiate substitution treatmentPharmaciesSupervised consumption

Identifiers

PMID40128826
PMCPMC11931786

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Registered trials

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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.