Reward-based programs lead to higher rates of smoking cessation

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Reward-based lead to higher rates of sustained abstinence from smoking compared with deposit-based programs and group-oriented incentive programs are no more effective than individual-oriented programs, a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine has shown.

For the study, researchers enrolled 2,538 CVS Caremark employees and their relatives and friends and randomly assigned them to one of four incentive programs or to usual care for smoking cessation.

Reward-based programs involved participants receiving about $800 for smoking cessation while the deposit-based programs entailed refundable deposits of $150 plus $650 in reward payments.

Results showed that rates of sustained abstinence from smoking through 6 months were higher in each of the incentive programs compared with usual care and the superiority of reward-based programs lasted through 12 months.

Researchers found that group-oriented and individual-oriented were associated with similar 6-month smoking cessation rates.

The study also showed that reward-based programs led to higher abstinence rates compared with deposit-based programs.