The effect of daily aerobic cycling exercise on sleep quality during inpatient cannabis withdrawal: A randomised controlled trial

No Thumbnail Available
File version
Author(s)
McCartney, Danielle
Isik, Ashling D
Rooney, Kieron
Arnold, Jonathon C
Bartlett, Delwyn J
Murnion, Bridin
Richards, Elisha
Arkell, Thomas R
Lintzeris, Nicholas
McGregor, Iain S
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2020
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract

Sleep disturbance is a common symptom encountered by cannabis-dependent individuals abstaining from cannabis use. In the present study, we investigated the effect of daily aerobic cycling exercise versus control stretching on sleep quality during inpatient cannabis withdrawal in treatment-seeking dependent cannabis users. The protocol incorporated three consecutive phases: a 4-Day (4-Night) (at-home) ‘Baseline’ phase, a 6-Day (5-Night) ‘Treatment’ phase (within a 7-Day inpatient hospital stay) and a 3-Day (4-Night) (at-home) ‘Post-Treatment’ phase. Participants performed 35 min of monitored activity per day during the Treatment phase. The intervention group (n = 19) cycled at ~60% aerobic capacity (VO2max), while the control group (n = 12) performed a stretching routine. Objective sleep quality was measured nightly throughout the study using wrist actigraphy ratings of subjective sleep quality were also recorded during the Treatment phase. There were no group differences in sleep measures during the Baseline phase (all p > .05). Objective sleep onset latency increased from the Baseline to the Treatment phase in the control (stretching) group (p = .042). In contrast, the Cycling group exhibited improvements in sleep duration (p = .008) and sleep efficiency (p = .023) during the Treatment phase compared to the Baseline phase. Cycling also increased sleep duration (p = .005), decreased average wake bout (p = .040) and tended to increase sleep efficiency (p = .051) compared to stretching during the Treatment phase. Subjective sleep quality ratings did not differ between groups (p > .10). These preliminary findings suggest that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise may attenuate the sleep disturbances associated with cannabis withdrawal.

Journal Title

Journal of Sleep Research

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

30

Issue

3

Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Biomedical and clinical sciences

Psychology

Science & Technology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Clinical Neurology

Neurosciences & Neurology

Persistent link to this record
Citation

McCartney, D; Isik, AD; Rooney, K; Arnold, JC; Bartlett, DJ; Murnion, B; Richards, E; Arkell, TR; Lintzeris, N; McGregor, IS, The effect of daily aerobic cycling exercise on sleep quality during inpatient cannabis withdrawal: A randomised controlled trial, Journal of Sleep Research, 2020, 30 (3), pp. e13211

Collections