Our primary conclusion is that there is a lack of compelling evidence that incentives of any form represent a compelling NCD reduction strategy .
The rising epidemic of non-communicable diseases ( NCDs ) poses substantial health and economic challenges to both individuals and society .
Application of incentive-based strategies based on traditional and behavioural economic theory has emerged as a potential strategy to address rising rates of NCDs .
Yet , whether or not incentives truly represent a promising strategy for addressing NCDs has not been systematic ally addressed nor is it clear whether certain behavioural economic strategies outperform others or simply offering a cash-based incentive for meeting a goal .
In this systematic review we aim to determine whether there is an evidence base for any of these strategies .
Contingency management for smoking cessation among treatment-seeking patients in a community setting.
BACKGROUND Contingency management ( CM ) is an efficacious intervention for reducing cigarette smoking . However , CM is rarely adopted as a smoking cessation treatment in the community . This study analyzed the effectiveness of a CM procedure in combination with a cognitive-behavioral treatment ( CBT ) for smoking cessation among treatment-seeking patients from the general population . METHODS A total of 92 patients were r and omly assigned to one of two treatment conditions : CBT ( N=49 ) or CBT+CM ( N=43 ) . The CM procedure included a voucher program through which nicotine abstinence was reinforced on a schedule of escalating magnitude of reinforcement with a reset contingency .  Self-reported smoking status was confirmed with both carbon monoxide ( CO ) level in expired air and cotinine levels in urine . RESULTS Of the patients who received CBT+CM 97.7 % , completed 6 weeks of treatment , versus 81.6 % of those who received CBT ( p=.03 ) . At the post-treatment assessment , 95.3 % of the patients assigned to the CBT+CM condition achieved abstinence in comparison to the 59.2 % in the CBT group ( p=.000 ) . At the one-month follow-up , 72.1 % of the patients who received CBT+CM  maintained smoking abstinence , versus 34.7 % in the CBT group ( p=.001 ) . At the six-month follow-up , 51.2 % of the patients who received CBT+CM  maintained smoking abstinence in comparison to the 28.6 % in the CBT group ( p=.04 ) . CONCLUSIONS Results from this r and omized clinical trial showed that adding CM to a CBT is effective , and is feasible as an intervention approach with treatment-seeking patients in a community setting
Our primary conclusion is that there is a lack of compelling evidence that incentives of any form represent a compelling NCD reduction strategy .
The rising epidemic of non-communicable diseases ( NCDs ) poses substantial health and economic challenges to both individuals and society .
Application of incentive-based strategies based on traditional and behavioural economic theory has emerged as a potential strategy to address rising rates of NCDs .
Yet , whether or not incentives truly represent a promising strategy for addressing NCDs has not been systematic ally addressed nor is it clear whether certain behavioural economic strategies outperform others or simply offering a cash-based incentive for meeting a goal .
In this systematic review we aim to determine whether there is an evidence base for any of these strategies .