Whitney Cordoba-Grueso
Whitney is a trained physician and doctoral student in Epidemiology. She joined Indiana University through The Fulbright program, after working in humanitarian mental health with Internally Displaced People in Colombia.
Her areas of interest are mental health disorders (particularly Opioid Use Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and their intersectionality with health behaviors and health policies. Career-wise, she plans to use her research to develop and evaluate interventions that prevent and control the onset of Mental Health Disorders and reduce their impact on people's lives.
The Association between Exercise and Opioid Misuse: Preliminary Results of a Systematic Review
Background: Exercise prevents chronic diseases and modulates pain. People experiencing pain often turn to opioids for relief. Exercise may influence opioid use through the release of endorphins. We aimed to summarize the existing literature on the association between exercise and opioid misuse.
Methods: We identified studies published through December 2021 in Cochrane, Embase, Medline, and PubMed, using search terms like “Opioid-Related Disorders,” “Opioid Misuse,” “Exercise,” and “Sports”. Observational and experimental studies with adult samples published in English were included. Those assessing heroin use or conducted among pregnant or institutionalized individuals were excluded. The risk of bias and quality assessment will be conducted independently by two authors, using the NIH Study Quality Assessment Tools. Decisions will be cross-checked with a third author.
Results: Our search yielded 10,748 records, of which 19 studies have been included. Three studies were randomized controlled trials, four were pilot trials, five were case-control studies, five were cross-sectional studies and two were cohort studies. Three studies evaluated therapy exercise, seven examined yoga, and nine investigated exercise or sports. A quarter of the findings showed no statistically significant association between exercise and opioid misuse. However, there were reductions in opioid misuse among individuals practicing yoga, those with baseline opioid use, back pain, or osteoarthritis, and increases among college-athletes. Identified weaknesses included small sample sizes and risk of measurement bias.
Conclusions: Evidence on the association between exercise and opioid misuse was mixed. Future researchers should consider large samples and standardized questions on opioid misuse.
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