Impact of an exercise intervention on methamphetamine use outcomes post residential treatment care

Abstract

Background-We examined the efficacy of an 8-week exercise intervention on posttreatment methamphetamine (MA) use among MA-dependent individuals following residential treatment.Methods-135 individuals newly enrolled in treatment were randomly assigned to a structured 8-week exercise intervention or health education control group. Approximately 1 week after completion of the intervention, participants were discharged to the community. Interview data and urine samples were collected at 1-, 3-, and 6-months post-residential care. Of the sample, 54.8% were classified as higher severity users (using MA more than 18 days in the month before admission) and 45.2% as lower severity users (using MA for up to 18 days in the month before admission). Group differences in MA use outcomes were examined over the 3 timepoints using mixed-multivariate modeling.Results-While fewer exercise participants returned to MA use compared to education participants at 1-, 3-and 6-months post-discharge, differences were not statistically significant. A significant interaction for self-reported MA use and MA urine drug test results by condition and MA severity was found: lower severity users in the exercise group reported using MA significantly fewer days at the three post-discharge timepoints than lower severity users in the ContributorsAuthors RAR, LM, and CBC were involved with the design the study. Authors RG, JC, BAS managed literature searches and summaries of previous related work. Authors JP, DD, and BD undertook behavioral and clinical data collection. AA and RG undertook the statistical analysis. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript, including the review and final approval of it for publication. Conflicts of interest: none.Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript education group. Lower severity users in the exercise group also had a lower percentage of positive urine results at the three timepoints than lower severity users in the education group. These relationships were not present in the comparison of the higher severity conditions. Conclusion-Resultssupport the value of exercise as a treatment component for individuals using MA 18 or fewer days/month.

A complier average causal effect analysis of the Stimulant Reduction Intervention using dosed exercise study

“…The use of a median split to define an adequate exercise dose resulted in a dose that was at least two-thirds of the assigned dose. This rate is comparable to other studies of exercise in SUD [ 51 , 52 ]. Given the difficulties experienced by participants in STRIDE regarding adherence to the exercise program, future research is also needed to examine strategies to improve exercise adherence.…”

How to study sex differences in addiction using animal models

“…Combined pharmacotherapies have been used clinically over the years for stimulant use disorders, and they have not been widely effective (see review, Stoops & Rush ). However, our recent data suggest that combination treatments involving a rewarding behavioral component (physical exercise) are effective in animals, and a recent study of methamphetamine abusers using physical exercise (Rawson et al ) reduced methamphetamine use in participants with more frequent use of exercise. Thus, an additional advantage of this treatment combination is that this approach may be self‐sustaining.…”

“…Accordingly, initial reports in human studies suggest that more exposure to environmental enrichment (e.g. exercise) increased its effectiveness (Rawson et al ).…”

Sex and menstrual cycle effects on chronic oral cocaine self-administration in rhesus monkeys: Effects of a nondrug alternative reward

“…The present findings show the durability of the SACC treatment as a sustainable, nondrug reward to achieve voluntary abstinence from illicit drug use on a long-term basis in humans. However, while SACC was used in our monkey laboratory to achieve reduced drug intake (see reviews by Carroll and Lynch 2016, Carroll and Smethells 2016), a healthy nondrug reward, such social/community reinforcement (Higgins et al 2003, 2008), physical exercise (Bardo and Compton 2015; Zhou et al 2015; Rawson et al 2015), or an employment-based therapeutic workplace (e.g., Silverman et al 2002) are suitable nondrug alternatives for application to humans.…”

“…Thus, in the present study we compared cocaine intake during the luteal phase when serum PRO peaks in rhesus monkeys to the follicular phase when estrogen peaks (Cooper et al 2013), and we compared cocaine intake during the luteal and follicular phases. Recently it was shown that physical exercise reduced methamphetamine use in humans undergoing a residential treatment program (Rawson et al 2015). Others have shown that nondrug alternative rewards reduce drug-seeking in animals (Foltin et al 2015) and humans (Foltin et al 2015; Higgins et al 2008).…”