History of intensive sports practice: comparison between patients with substance use disorders and eating disorders

Several authors have noted the frequent association between excessive sport and the consumption of psychoactive substances or the presence of an eating disorder, however no study has compared these two types of patients with respect to their sport. The objective of this study was to study the prevalence of antecedents of intensive sports practice (defined as more than 8 hours per week) and to characterise sports practice, in patients hospitalised in the university addiction service of the University Hospital Centre of Nantes. The study was proposed to two types of patients (psychoactive substance use disorders: “SPA” group and eating disorder: “TCA” group), and the data collection was through a self-questionnaire. A total of 114 patients were included, 63 in the SPA group and 51 in the TCA group. Antecedents of intensive sports were significantly more common in the TCA group (52.94%) than in the SPA group (28.57%) (p=0.008), which was consistent with our initial hypothesis. The frequency found in the SPA group was also similar to that found in other studies. The sporting habits were not significantly different from one group to another, however. On the other hand, it could be said that sporting practice caused more damage in the TCA group, even if this feeling was subjective. Finally, 30% to 50% of patients felt that physical activity had a positive effect on their disorders, suggesting that physical activity might be of interest in addictology care.