The effects of exercise on secondary drug consumption of individuals undergoing heroin-assisted treatment

One of the most successful drug addiction treatments in Switzerland, in regard to psychological, physiological and social stability of patients, is the so-called heroinassisted treatment. Despite this treatment’s success, patients still consume addictive and hazardous substances like cocaine, alcohol, tobacco, illicit heroin and more outside their treatment clinic, so-called secondary drugs. The aim of this research is to investigate whether an intervention implementing a sport program has an influence on secondary drug consumption for patients in heroin-assisted treatment. Most of the studies investigating similar research fields, lack in methodological precision and are in need of further scientific evidence. This study applied a parallel-group controlled randomized trial, which included three measuring points. Those took place at the beginning, after 6 weeks and directly following the 12-week intervention. 24 participants either committed to a sport (n=13) or a control (n=11) program that took place twice a week lasting 60 to 75 minutes each. Results have shown that this kind of investigation is feasible and comparable to similar studies in that field. Results indicate that more participants from the sport group reduced their drug consumption than participants from the control group. The small sample size does not allow for generalizable effects of exercise on drug consumption. A majority of participants maintained their drug use, which may reflect the difficulties of altering incisive long-lasting drug use patterns. Key words: substitution therapy, heroin-assisted treatment, secondary drugs, addiction, exercise, sport intervention, controlled randomizatio