Physical activity and sports in the history of persons consulting for addiction problems. Study sponsored by the French Youth and Sports Ministry, 1999.

Early February 1999, the French Ministere de la Jeunesse et des Sports (You th and Sports Ministry) sponsored three different studies, aiming to preven t harmful behavior in the area of sport practices among South. Two years ea rlier, our health care team working with drug users published reports on th e meaningfulness of intensive sports activities in the history of our patie nts. The present work was performed to highlight the midterm results of one of these studies, to better understand and quantify the importance of phys ical training in the history of a group of outpatients seen for addictive d isorders and comorbid pathologies. For 20 consecutive weeks, 3,040 self-administered questionnaires were avail able for persons consulting 20 health centers, 2 self-help groups and a gen eral practitioner network working in the field of alcohol or heroine abuse. One thousand one hundred and eleven questionnaires were filled out (36.1 %) and returned by mail for complete analysis: 86 % of the answering persons had practiced at least one sports activity or participated in physical trai ning, 10.5 % had participated in a national or international level competit ion, and 10.6 % reported stress fractures. In the intensive sports group, 3 6 % had used illicit drugs intravenously and 16.4 % said they had already u sed doping substances. Only 28.4 % said they experienced dependence during their period of intensive sports activities compared with 15.2 % before thi s time, and a majority (56.4 %) thereafter. Intensive sports or physical training should not be seen as a protective fa ctor nor as a way of improving addictive behaviors. More studies are needed to evaluate individual vulnerability factors and specific harm of overtrai ning and to determine the exact periods when men and women participating in sports activities are likely to abuse drugs, especially at the end of thei r career.