AUTHOR=Xu Jisheng , Zhu Zhicheng , Liang Xin , Huang Qiuyue , Zheng TianZhen , Li Xue 

TITLE=Effects of moderate-intensity exercise on social health and physical and mental health of methamphetamine-dependent individuals: A randomized controlled trial

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.997960

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2022.997960

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objective</title><p>Methamphetamine (MA)-dependent individuals’ health problems are widespread and need to be solved urgently. Exercise is considered a potential treatment for MA dependents. The study aimed to determine the effects of a 12-week aerobic exercise on the social, physical, and mental health of MA-dependent individuals.</p></sec><sec><title>Materials and methods</title><p>Sixty MA-dependent individuals were randomly assigned into two groups. Subjects in the exercise group (<italic>n</italic> = 30) received an exercise intervention five days a week for 60 min each for 12 weeks. Subjects in the control group (<italic>n</italic> = 30) received regular corrective rehabilitation without exercise in the same setting. Outcome measures, including questionnaires [quality of life scale for drug addiction (QOL-DA), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI)] and physical fitness, were arranged the day before the start of the intervention and the day after the end of the intervention. Two-factor repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare the treatment differences between the two groups.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>After 12 weeks of the intervention period, social health was significantly improved in the exercise group (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), and there was a statistically significant difference in mental health scores between exercise group and control group, with a greater impact in exercise group.(Psychology: <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01; SAS: <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01; SDS: <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01; PSQI: <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), physical health improved in the exercise group, physiology (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), symptom (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), heart rate (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), systolic blood pressure (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), systolic blood pressure (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), vital capacity (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05), grip (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), vertical jump (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001), sit and reach (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), 50-meter run (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), and reaction time (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Aerobic exercise intervention is an effective treatment for MA-dependent individuals, and the 12-week intervention improved the social, physical, and mental health of MA-dependent individuals. We recommend that future studies focus more on drug-dependent individuals’ overall health status rather than just relapse.<bold>Clinical trial registration:</bold> [<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.chictr.org.cn/hvshowproject.aspx?id=131048" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://www.chictr.org.cn/hvshowproject.aspx?id=131048</ext-link>], identifier [ChiCTR2200055348].</p></sec>