Author: Kexin Zhang1, Haiyun Guo2, Xueqing Zhang3, Huayu Yang3, Guojing Yuan3, Zhihui Zhu3, Xiaoyan Lu3, Jianghui Zhang3, Jun Du3, Haiyan Shi3, Guifang Jin3, Juan Ren4, Jiahu Hao5, Ying Sun5, Puyu Su5, Zhihua Zhang6
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China; The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou, 310003, China. Electronic address: ahmuzhangkx@126.com.
<sup>2</sup> Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China. Electronic address: ghytu123456@163.com.
<sup>3</sup> Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
<sup>4</sup> The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, China.
<sup>5</sup> Department of Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
<sup>6</sup> Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China; Center for Evidence Based Medicine, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China. Electronic address: zhangzh@ahmu.edu.cn.
Conference/Journal: J Psychiatr Res
Date published: 2024 Jan 8
Other:
Volume ID: 170 , Pages: 394-407 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.01.012. , Word Count: 263
Background:
Problematic use of mobile phones (PMPU) has been described as a serious public health issue.
Methods:
This study was a parallel three-arm randomized controlled trial and has completed registration (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05843591). Ninety college students with PMPU were randomly assigned to the aerobic exercise group (AE group, n = 30), the Tai Chi Chuan group (TCC group, n = 30), or the wait-list control group (WLC group, n = 30). At the end of the intervention, stool samples from the study participants were collected for biological analysis based on 16 S rDNA amplicon sequencing technology. The primary outcome was addiction symptoms assessed by the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV). The secondary outcomes are emotional symptoms, physical symptoms, and flora species.
Results:
Compared with the WLC group, the AE and TCC groups showed reductions in PMPU levels, physical and mental fatigue, but there was no difference between the two groups. Moreover, the effect of increasing self-esteem embodied in the TCC group was not present in the AE group. Compared to the WLC group, the relative abundance of Bacteroidaceae and Bacteroides were lower in the AE group, while the relative abundance of Erysipelotrichaceae and Alistipes were lower in the TCC group. And the relative abundance of Bacteroidaceae, Bacteroides, and Alistipes were significantly and negatively correlated with the decline in PMPU scores.
Conclusion:
AE or TCC is an effective, safe and efficient intervention for college students with PMPU, providing some physiological and psychological benefits and having some impact on their intestinal flora.
Keywords: Aerobic exercise; Exercise intervention; Intestinal flora; Problematic mobile phone use; RCT; Tai Chi Chuan.
PMID: 38218013 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.01.012