Contingency management treatment for methamphetamine use disorder in South Africa

Introduction and Aims As South Africa, especially the Western Cape Province, faces an epidemic of methamphetamine use disorder, therapeutic approaches suited to the South African context are needed. This secondary analysis assessed retention and methamphetamine abstinence outcomes in response to an 8‐week pilot contingency management (CM) intervention trial of neural correlates of methamphetamine abstinence, exploring sociodemographic and clinical differences between responders and non‐responders. Design and Methods Research participants provided thrice‐weekly monitored urine samples, which were analysed by qualitative radioimmunoassay. The primary outcome for this analysis was therapeutic response, defined as abstinence from methamphetamine (≥23 of 24 possible methamphetamine‐negative urine samples). Results Data from 30 adults living in Cape Town, South Africa (34 ± 6.1 years of age, mean age ± SD, 21 men) were included. Sixty‐three percent (12 men) were responders. In bivariate comparisons, baseline measurements showed fewer responders reported monthly household income ≥25 000+ South African Rand (ZAR; ~USD $1880; vs. ZAR