Table 1.
Randomized controlled trials included in the article.
| Study | Country | Sample size | Age(years) | Exercise intervention category | Intervention period | Frequency | Session duration | Outcome measure(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Li et al. (2002) (25) | China | 34/26 | 31.8 ± 6.0 | MBE | Low | High | High | HAM-A; withdrawal symptoms; urine morphine |
| Ussher (2006) (26) | UK | 20/20 | 30.5 ± 8.0 | RSE | Low | Low | Low | Desire to smoke; withdrawal symptoms; mood symptoms |
| Vickers (2009) (27) | USA | 30/30 | 41.4 ± 11.9 | ME | Moderate | Low | Low | Smoking abstinence; depression symptoms; exercise behavior |
| Buchowski (2011) (28) | USA | 12/12 | 24.8 ± 2.9 | AE | Low | High | Low | Cannabis craving; cannabis use |
| Bock (2012) (29) | USA | 32/23 | 43.8 ± 9.4 | YME | Moderate | Low | High | Smoking abstinence; anxiety; depression; perceived health |
| Li D (2013) (30). | China | 36/34 | 30.0 ± 6.7 | MBE | High | Moderate | High | Withdrawal symptoms; HRSD depression; physical parameters |
| Smelson (2013) (31) | USA | 51/50 | 36.0 ± 9.4 | MBE | Low | Moderate | Low | Cue-elicited cocaine craving; BDI; STAI |
| Devi (2014) (32) | India | 33/33 | 32.5 ± 9.9 | YME | Moderate | High | High | BDI-II; WHOQOL-BREF |
| Wang D (2015) (33). | China | 24/24 | 31.5 ± 6.6 | AE | Low | Low | Low | MA craving; Go/No-Go inhibitory control; ERP |
| Agarwal (2015) (34) | USA | 12/12 | 47.0 ± 8.9 | YME | Moderate | Low | High | Quality of life; perceived stress; IES; cortisol; DHEA-S |
| Rawson (2015) (35) | USA | 69/66 | 31.7 ± 6.9 | ME | Moderate | Moderate | High | BDI depression; BAI anxiety |
| Costa (2016) (36) | Brazil | 9/9 | 32.0 ± 4.7 | AE | High | Moderate | High | Cardiorespiratory fitness; Stroop cognitive function |
| De La Garza (2016a) (37) | USA | 10/7 | 43.4 ± 7.4 | AE | Moderate | Moderate | Low | Cocaine craving; cocaine use; tobacco craving/use; fitness |
| De La Garza (2016b) (37) | USA | 7/7 | 45.6 ± 1.6 | AE | Moderate | Moderate | Low | Cocaine craving; cocaine use; tobacco craving/use; fitness |
| Wang (2016a) (38) | China | 23/23 | 33.3 ± 9.1 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | MA craving; Go/No-Go inhibitory control; ERP |
| Wang (2016b) (38) | China | 23/23 | 32.1 ± 6.3 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | MA craving; Go/No-Go inhibitory control; ERP |
| Wang (2016c) (38) | China | 23/23 | 34.0 ± 8.9 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | MA craving; Go/No-Go inhibitory control; ERP |
| Wang D. (2017A) (39) | China | 25/25 | 33.5 ± 7.5 | AE | High | Moderate | Moderate | MA craving; inhibitory control; ERP |
| Wang D. (2017B) (40) | China | 32/31 | 32.2 ± 7.0 | AE | High | Moderate | Moderate | Fitness; MA craving; anxiety; depression |
| Zhang K (2018) (41). | China | 68/35 | 33.3 ± 7.7 | AE | High | Moderate | Moderate | Cognitive function; oxidative stress markers |
| Zhu D. (2018) (42) | China | 42/38 | 33.7 ± 7.1 | MBE | High | Moderate | High | Sleep quality; SDS depression; fitness; relapse |
| Gong (2019) (43) | China | 26/26 | 31.9 ± 6.0 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | Craving; emotional state; neurotransmitters |
| Lu (2019) (44) | China | 36/34 | 31.5 ± 0.6 | ME | High | High | High | SCL-90; SDS; SAS; VAS craving; immune/DA markers |
| Zhang (2020) (45) | China | 38/38 | 41.1 ± 9.9 | MBE | High | High | High | Drug craving; anxiety; depression; physical fitness; QOL |
| Wang (2020) (46) | China | 30/30 | 32.7 ± 7.2 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | Heroin craving; Go/No-Go inhibitory control; ERP/frequency bands |
| Liu (2021) (47) | China | 165/165 | 31.3 ± 5.5 | AE | Moderate | High | High | Executive function; HRV; cardiopulmonary fitness |
| Shen (2021) (48) | China | 35/37 | 39.3 ± 10.3 | MBE | High | Moderate | High | Executive function; physical fitness |
| Zhu (2021) (49) | China | 42/41 | 34.6 ± 5.1 | AE | High | High | Moderate | Cognitive function; emotions; craving; physical fitness |
| Ellingsen (2021a) (50) | Norway | 36/36 | 37.3 ± 6.4 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | Drug craving; mood |
| Ellingsen (2021b) (50) | Norway | 36/36 | 37.3 ± 6.4 | RSE | Low | Low | Moderate | Drug craving; mood |
| Chen (2021a) (51) | China | 17/21 | 32.5 ± 4.8 | AE | High | Moderate | Moderate | Cue-induced craving; working memory; inhibitory control |
| Chen (2021b) (51) | China | 19/21 | 29.6 ± 4.4 | AE | High | Moderate | Moderate | Cue-induced craving; working memory; inhibitory control |
| Brellenthin (2021) (52) | USA | 11/10 | 35.1 ± 10.2 | AE | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Craving; mood states; depression; anxiety; endocannabinoids |
| Zhou (2021a) (53) | China | 20/19 | 26.5 ± 4.1 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | Cue-induced MA craving; food reward; fNIRS |
| Zhou (2021b) (53) | China | 19/20 | 26.5 ± 4.1 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | Cue-induced MA craving; food reward; fNIRS |
| Xu (2022) (54) | China | 30/30 | 31.3 ± 3.9 | AE | High | High | High | QOL-DA; SAS; SDS; PSQI; physical fitness |
| Welford (2022a) (55) | Sweden | 46/45 | 53.9 ± 10.6 | AE | High | Moderate | High | HADS anxiety; HADS depression |
| Welford (2022b) (55) | Sweden | 49/45 | 54.2 ± 13.4 | YME | High | Moderate | High | HADS anxiety; HADS depression |
| Salem (2022) (56) | USA | 69/66 | 31.7 ± 6.9 | ME | Moderate | Moderate | High | MA craving; MA use after discharge |
| Li H. (2023a) (57) | China | 26/25 | NR | RSE | Moderate | High | Moderate | Drug craving; sleep quality; cardiovascular and fitness outcomes |
| Li H. (2023b) (57) | China | 25/25 | NR | RSE | Moderate | High | Moderate | Drug craving; sleep quality; cardiovascular and fitness outcomes |
| Liu (2023) (58) | China | 23/23 | 28.5 ± 3.3 | AE | Moderate | High | High | Cognitive function; anxiety; depression |
| Chen (2023) (59) | China | 20/20 | 26.6 ± 4.5 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | Drug craving; prefrontal activation; fNIRS |
| Zhang (2024) (60) | China | 20/24 | 38.3 ± 9.1 | ME | High | Moderate | High | Drug craving; attention bias; physical fitness |
| Wang M. (2024) (61) | China | 48/47 | 32.5 ± 8.2 | MBE | High | High | Moderate | Drug craving |
| Guo (2024) (62) | China | 20/24 | 39.6 ± 10.2 | ME | High | Moderate | Moderate | Drug craving; executive function; physical fitness |
| Malagodi (2024a) (63) | Brazil | 43/43 | 27.6 ± 5.9 | AE | Low | Low | High | Craving; Go/No-Go inhibitory control |
| Malagodi (2024b) (63) | Brazil | 43/43 | 27.6 ± 5.9 | RSE | Low | Low | High | Craving; Go/No-Go inhibitory control |
| Wang K. (2024a) (64) | China | 17/17 | NR | AE | High | Moderate | Moderate | Sleep quality; drug craving; EEG prefrontal alpha |
| Wang K. (2024b) (64) | China | 17/17 | NR | ME | High | Moderate | Moderate | Sleep quality; drug craving; EEG prefrontal alpha |
| Yang (2025a) (65) | China | 29/29 | 25.5 ± 4.2 | MBE | High | High | Moderate | Relapse tendency; sleep quality; choice reaction time; physical fitness |
| Yang (2025b) (65) | China | 25/25 | 25.5 ± 4.2 | AE | High | High | Moderate | Relapse tendency; sleep quality; choice reaction time; physical fitness |
| Yang (2025c) (65) | China | 26/26 | 25.5 ± 4.2 | ME | High | High | Moderate | Relapse tendency; sleep quality; choice reaction time; physical fitness |
| Jin (2025a) (66) | China | 35/35 | 30.2 ± 5.5 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | Craving; emotional state; attentional bias; working memory; inhibitory control |
| Jin (2025b) (66) | China | 35/35 | 30.2 ± 5.5 | RSE | Low | Low | Moderate | Craving; emotional state; attentional bias; working memory; inhibitory control |
| Li (2025) (67) | China | 32/32 | 32.8 ± 5.8 | AE | Low | Low | Moderate | Craving; attention network function |
| Goutham (2026) (68) | India | 30/29 | 26.3 ± 3.3 | YME | Low | High | Moderate | COWS withdrawal stabilization; HRV; anxiety; sleep latency; pain |
The Low/Moderate/High categories were coded according to exercise-training principles and the dose descriptions reported in the original trials. Intervention period was classified according to total intervention duration, frequency according to sessions per week, session duration according to minutes per session, and intensity according to reported intensity indicators, such as %HRmax, HRR, VO2max, METs, RPE, or the original authors’ descriptive intensity level where objective indicators were unavailable.