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 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=.12, p=.022, but not for any of the metabolic syndrome components (p≥.192). Cardiorespiratory fitness significantly facilitated the intervention's indirect effect on abdominal obesity, ßindirect=-.03, p=.012, high diastolic blood pressure, ßindirect=-.04, p=.011, and elevated triglycerides, ßindirect=-.03, p=.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.