The Effect of Physical Activity on Quality of Life in Refugee Children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to show the relationship between the quality of life and physical activity of refugee children who came to Turkey as a result of forced migration from their home countries. The study was conducted with the voluntary participation of 100 children between the ages of 14 and 17 living in the center of Çorum province in Turkey who were admitted as refugees. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire. The "Personal Information Form" created by the researchers was used in the first part and the "High School Quality of Life Scale (HSQOLS)" was used in the second part. For the selection of statistical tests, two independent group comparisons were made using the Mann Whitney U-test, as the data were not normally distributed. Comparisons between three independent groups were carried out using the Kruskal-Wallis test, as the data were not normally distributed. To determine the different groups after the Kruskal-Wallis test, the Mann Whitney U post hoc pairwise comparison test with Bonferroni correction was used. The statistical significance level was assumed to be p<0.005. Statistically significant differences were found between participants' athletic status in Turkey, athletic branch in Turkey, athletic branch in their country of origin, athletic branch in their country of origin, and athletic age and the total scale and all sub-dimensions of the LISCEC (p<0.05). It is therefore hypothesized that physical activity and sport positively influence the quality of life of refugee children from different cultures in the countries where they settle and that this interaction is due to the integrative function of sport.