Impact of an 8-Week Exercise and Sport Intervention on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Mental Health, and Physical Fitness among Male Refugees Living in a Greek Refugee Camp

• Main Authors: Florian Knappe, Flora Colledge, Markus Gerber
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-10-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: fitness; greece; mental health; physical activity; psychiatric symptoms; refugees
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/3904

<b>Objective:</b> To explore the potential impact of exercise and sport training on symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, quality of life, pain, and fitness in male refugees living in a Greek refugee camp. <b>Methods:</b> This investigation was designed as a one group pre-test/post-test study. A total of 45 refugees (<i>M_age</i> = 25.6) participated in the data assessment. All participants were invited to engage in an 8-week exercise and sport intervention. Data were analysed with hierarchical regression analyses. <b>Results:</b> Baseline scores significantly predicted post-intervention scores across all study variables. Regression analyses showed that a higher participation rate predicted fewer anxiety symptoms, better health-related quality of life, higher self-perceived fitness, higher handgrip strength, and better cardiovascular fitness at post-intervention. A non-significant trend was also found for PTSD and depressive symptoms, showing that a higher participation rate was associated with fewer complaints at post-intervention. <b>Conclusions:</b> Among male refugees living in precarious conditions in a Greek refugee camp, frequency of participation in an 8-week exercise and sport training program seemed to have the potential to positively impact refugees&#8217; health. Due to the pre-experimental study design, our results must be interpreted with caution.