Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction Through Recreational Group Sport Interventions in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objective: To estimate the pooled effects of community-based, recreational-level group sports on cardiometabolic risk factors and fitness parameters among adults.

Participants And Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL, and Web of Science electronic databases for English-language articles reporting the effectiveness of recreational-level group sports published between January 1, 1965, and January 17, 2017. We extracted baseline and end of intervention means for cardiometabolic and fitness parameters. Random- or fixed-effects meta-analyses were used to obtain pooled before and after change in outcome means within intervention participants and between groups.

Results: From 2491 screened titles, 23 publications were included (902 participants; mean ± SD age, 46.6±11.7 years), comprising 21 soccer and 2 rugby interventions. Intervention participants achieved larger improvements (mean [95% CI]) compared with control subjects in weight (-1.44 kg [-1.79 to -1.08 kg]), body mass index (-0.88 kg/m [-1.73 to -0.03 kg/m]), waist circumference (-0.77 cm [-1.21 to -0.33 cm]), body fat (-1.8% [-3.12% to -0.49%]), total cholesterol level (-0.33 mmol/L [-0.53 to -0.13 mmol/L]), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (-0.35 mmol/L [-0.54 to -0.15 mmol/L]), systolic blood pressure (-5.71 mm Hg [-7.98 to -3.44 mm Hg]), diastolic blood pressure (-3.36 mm Hg [-4.93 to -1.78 mm Hg]), maximum oxygen consumption (3.93 mL/min per kg [2.96-4.91 mL/min]), and resting heart rate (-5.51 beats/min [-7.37 to -3.66 beats/min]). Most studies (16) were classified as high quality, and we found no evidence of publication bias.

Conclusion: We found significant cardiometabolic and fitness improvements following group sport participation, primarily recreational soccer. These findings suggest that group sport interventions are promising strategies for reducing cardiometabolic risk in adults.