Effects of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in Greece: A randomized controlled trial
Background: The metabolic syndrome epidemic, including in forcibly displaced individuals, requires cost-effective prevention and treatment strategies. Yet, the health needs of forcibly displaced individuals often remain underserved. Our study evaluated the effect of a co-designed exercise and sport...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Migration and Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666623524000175 |
| _version_ | 1797233959506018304 |
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| author | Florian Knappe Konstantinia Filippou Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis Ioannis D. Morres Emmanouil Tzormpatzakis Elsa Havas Harald Seelig Sebastian Ludyga Flora Colledge Marianne Meier Yannis Theodorakis Roland von Känel Uwe Pühse Markus Gerber |
| author_facet | Florian Knappe Konstantinia Filippou Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis Ioannis D. Morres Emmanouil Tzormpatzakis Elsa Havas Harald Seelig Sebastian Ludyga Flora Colledge Marianne Meier Yannis Theodorakis Roland von Känel Uwe Pühse Markus Gerber |
| author_sort | Florian Knappe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: The metabolic syndrome epidemic, including in forcibly displaced individuals, requires cost-effective prevention and treatment strategies. Yet, the health needs of forcibly displaced individuals often remain underserved. Our study evaluated the effect of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals in a refugee camp in Greece and examined the indirect effect through cardiorespiratory fitness on metabolic syndrome components. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial involving an intervention and a wait-list control group with n = 142 (52.8 % women) forcibly displaced Southwest Asians and Sub-Saharan Africans. The intervention group participated for 10 weeks in exercise and sport activities. Outcomes were cardiorespiratory fitness and single metabolic syndrome components. Effects were analyzed with structural equation modeling. Results: In total, 62.7 % of participants presented with low cardiorespiratory fitness levels (<40th percentile), and 24.6 % met the criteria for metabolic syndrome. In the intervention group, 73.5 % attended the exercise and sport sessions at least once a week. There was evidence for a direct intervention effect on cardiorespiratory fitness, ßdirect = 0.12, p = 0.022, but not for any of the metabolic syndrome components (p ≥ 0.192). Cardiorespiratory fitness significantly facilitated the intervention's indirect effect on abdominal obesity, ßindirect = −0.03, p = 0.012, high diastolic blood pressure, ßindirect = −0.04, p = 0.011, and elevated triglycerides, ßindirect = −0.03, p = 0.025. Conclusion: Implementing exercise and sport activities in a refugee camp in Greece effectively reaches a wider target population and improves cardiorespiratory fitness among forcibly displaced individuals. The intervention contributes to a decrease in abdominal obesity, high diastolic blood pressure and elevated triglycerides indirectly via improved cardiorespiratory fitness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T16:24:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3b63a1a7c7ce4189bb65bf22f8c5c08e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-6235 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T16:24:27Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Migration and Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-3b63a1a7c7ce4189bb65bf22f8c5c08e2024-03-31T04:38:04ZengElsevierJournal of Migration and Health2666-62352024-01-019100227Effects of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in Greece: A randomized controlled trialFlorian Knappe0Konstantinia Filippou1Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis2Ioannis D. Morres3Emmanouil Tzormpatzakis4Elsa Havas5Harald Seelig6Sebastian Ludyga7Flora Colledge8Marianne Meier9Yannis Theodorakis10Roland von Känel11Uwe Pühse12Markus Gerber13Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Grosse Alle 6, Basel CH-4052, Switzerland; Corresponding author.Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Thessaly, Trikala 42100, GreeceDepartment of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Thessaly, Trikala 42100, GreeceDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Thessaly, Trikala 42132, GreeceDepartment of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Thessaly, Trikala 42100, GreeceDepartment of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Thessaly, Trikala 42100, GreeceDepartment of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Grosse Alle 6, Basel CH-4052, SwitzerlandDepartment of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Grosse Alle 6, Basel CH-4052, SwitzerlandDepartment of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Lucerne, Lucerne 6005, SwitzerlandInterdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies, University of Bern, Bern 3012, SwitzerlandDepartment of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Thessaly, Trikala 42100, GreeceDepartment of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich 8091, SwitzerlandDepartment of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Grosse Alle 6, Basel CH-4052, SwitzerlandDepartment of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Grosse Alle 6, Basel CH-4052, SwitzerlandBackground: The metabolic syndrome epidemic, including in forcibly displaced individuals, requires cost-effective prevention and treatment strategies. Yet, the health needs of forcibly displaced individuals often remain underserved. Our study evaluated the effect of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals in a refugee camp in Greece and examined the indirect effect through cardiorespiratory fitness on metabolic syndrome components. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial involving an intervention and a wait-list control group with n = 142 (52.8 % women) forcibly displaced Southwest Asians and Sub-Saharan Africans. The intervention group participated for 10 weeks in exercise and sport activities. Outcomes were cardiorespiratory fitness and single metabolic syndrome components. Effects were analyzed with structural equation modeling. Results: In total, 62.7 % of participants presented with low cardiorespiratory fitness levels (<40th percentile), and 24.6 % met the criteria for metabolic syndrome. In the intervention group, 73.5 % attended the exercise and sport sessions at least once a week. There was evidence for a direct intervention effect on cardiorespiratory fitness, ßdirect = 0.12, p = 0.022, but not for any of the metabolic syndrome components (p ≥ 0.192). Cardiorespiratory fitness significantly facilitated the intervention's indirect effect on abdominal obesity, ßindirect = −0.03, p = 0.012, high diastolic blood pressure, ßindirect = −0.04, p = 0.011, and elevated triglycerides, ßindirect = −0.03, p = 0.025. Conclusion: Implementing exercise and sport activities in a refugee camp in Greece effectively reaches a wider target population and improves cardiorespiratory fitness among forcibly displaced individuals. The intervention contributes to a decrease in abdominal obesity, high diastolic blood pressure and elevated triglycerides indirectly via improved cardiorespiratory fitness.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666623524000175Cardiovascular diseaseMigrantPhysical activityPublic health |
| spellingShingle | Florian Knappe Konstantinia Filippou Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis Ioannis D. Morres Emmanouil Tzormpatzakis Elsa Havas Harald Seelig Sebastian Ludyga Flora Colledge Marianne Meier Yannis Theodorakis Roland von Känel Uwe Pühse Markus Gerber Effects of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in Greece: A randomized controlled trial Journal of Migration and Health Cardiovascular disease Migrant Physical activity Public health |
| title | Effects of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in Greece: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_full | Effects of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in Greece: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_fullStr | Effects of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in Greece: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in Greece: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_short | Effects of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in Greece: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_sort | effects of a co designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in greece a randomized controlled trial |
| topic | Cardiovascular disease Migrant Physical activity Public health |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666623524000175 |
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