Exercise as Alcohol Use Disorders Intervention for Non-Treatment Seeking Adults

Saint Louis University (SLU)

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 1

Conditions: Alcohol-Related Disorders

Treatments: Behavioral: Motivational Enhancement Therapy plus Contingency Management

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT01399554

1R03AA020194 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Alcohol use disorders are common and few individuals with the disorder ever seek help. This study proposes to intervene in a novel way - exercise, as it has many mental and physical health benefits and is an activity that is incompatible with simultaneous alcohol use. If effective, this non-stigmatizing intervention may increase the utility and acceptability of interventions for alcohol use disorders and ultimately increase the number of individuals effectively treated.

Full description

About 26 million Americans (8.5%) meet criteria for an alcohol use disorder (AUD; i.e., abuse or dependence), and most with an AUD will not ever seek help. A variety of reasons exist for not seeking help, with stigma and desire to handle the problem on one's own being primary among them. Therefore, offering interventions for AUD that do not stigmatize or require an individual to see a mental health professional may increase the utility and acceptability of AUD interventions and ultimately increase the number of individuals effectively treated. This pilot study evaluates exercise as an AUD intervention. Exercise has been proposed as a potential treatment for AUD due to its numerous mental and physical health benefits. Thirty sedentary non-treatment seeking AUD individuals to be recruited from the community via advertisements. Participants will be given a four month YMCA gym membership and will be randomized to one of two conditions: (1) assessment only (AO), or (2) a combination of two motivational enhancement therapy (MET) sessions focused on increasing exercise spaced two months apart and four months of weekly contingency management (CM) for adhering to specific exercise activities. MET is a client-centered, directive method of enhancing intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence, and CM is a behavioral treatment offering individuals tangible reinforcers such as prizes for completion of specific target behaviors. Assessments of all participants will take place at baseline, 2-months (mid-treatment), and 4-months (post-treatment. Results from this pilot study will guide future investigations of exercise as a method for intervening with non-treatment seeking AUD individuals.

Enrollment: 38 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21 to 55 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age 21-55 years
• English speaking
• Sedentary
• Alcohol-related problems
• Recent heavy drinking episodes
• Blood pressure <165/95 mmHg

Exclusion criteria

• Currently receiving or desiring treatment for alcohol problems
• Contraindications for exercise
• Acute psychiatric problems that require immediate treatment
• Obese - class II
• Pregnant or desire to become so in the next several months
• Other substance dependence
• In recovery for pathological gambling

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

38 participants in 2 patient groups

Assessment Only

No Intervention group

Weekly Exercise Counseling Intervention

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Motivational Enhancement Therapy plus Contingency Management