Abstract
ObjectiveThe goal of this meta-analysis was to examine whether long-term physical exercise could be a potential effective treatment for substance use disorders (SUD).MethodsThe PubMed, Web of Science, Elsevier, CNKI and China Info were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCT) studies in regards to the effects of physical exercise on SUD between the years 1990 and 2013. Four main outcome measures including abstinence rate, withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, and depression were evaluated.ResultsTwenty-two studies were integrated in the meta-analysis. The results indicated that physical exercise can effectively increase the abstinence rate (OR = 1.69 (95% CI: 1.44, 1.99), z = 6.33, p<0.001), ease withdrawal symptoms (SMD = −1.24 (95% CI: −2.46, −0.02), z = −2, p<0.05), and reduce anxiety (SMD = −0.31 (95% CI: −0.45, −0.16), z = −4.12, p<0.001) and depression (SMD = −0.47 (95% CI: −0.80, −0.14), z = −2.76, p<0.01). The physical exercise can more ease the depression symptoms on alcohol and illicit drug abusers than nicotine abusers, and more improve the abstinence rate on illicit drug abusers than the others. Similar treatment effects were found in three categories: exercise intensity, types of exercise, and follow-up periods.ConclusionsThe moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercises, designed according to the Guidelines of American College of Sports Medicine, and the mind-body exercises can be an effective and persistent treatment for those with SUD.
Highlights
Substance abuse, such as alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drugs, is one of the largest public health issues in the world
(2) All research use randomized controlled trials (RCT). (3) Objects of the study were adults over 18 years old who were assessed as alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drug abusers through the DSM-III(R)/IV. (4) Excluding the studies on acute exercise, we selected results from chronic physical exercise experimental studies
We evaluated the treatment effect by measuring abstinence rates at the end of physical exercise and throughout different follow-up periods, and conducted a sub-group analysis based on different follow-up phases
Summary
Substance abuse, such as alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drugs, is one of the largest public health issues in the world. Figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that 2.5 million people die from alcohol abuse each year, and at least 15.3 million people have substance use disorders (SUD). One of the most commonly used treatments for substance addiction is drug replacement therapy, using substances such as methadone or buprenorphine. Both methadone and buprenorphine are long-acting opioid agonists and used to treat opioid addiction, such as heroin, by reducing and/or eliminating the use of substances, relieving craving behavior, suppressing abstinence symptoms, and decreasing substance abuse-associated infective diseases transmission [5,6]. There is a strong interest in finding alternative treatments for SUD
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