Evaluation of an exercise physiology service in a youth mental health service

Individuals who experience serious mental health disorders are at an increased risk of physical illness co-morbidity and early intervention is crucial. Recommendations to embed an exercise physiologist service into a mental health service have not been fully evaluated.

This study aimed to determine (i) demographics and clinical characteristics of the young people referred to exercise physiology, (ii) adherence to metabolic monitoring, (iii) baseline physical health and (iv) level of engagement after referral.

This is a naturalistic cohort study and included all young people referred to the exercise physiology service between 2015 and 2019 at Orygen, a specialist youth mental health service in the north-western region of Melbourne.

During the study period of 45 months, 312 young people were referred to exercise physiology, and of those, 51.3% were male. The mean age was 19.8 years. In regard to primary diagnoses, 47.4% had a psychotic disorder and 33.7% an affective disorder. Baseline weight measurements were completed for 71.8% of young people. The proportion of young people who were classified as overweight or obese increased from 55.1% to 70.4% (p < 0.001). For those referred, 61.5% attended either an individual session or a group session. A total of 29.5% did not attend their appointment following referral.

As over half of young people had poor physical health at presentation, integrating an exercise physiology service into a youth mental health service is a novel and needed intervention. However, there still needs to be an emphasis on metabolic monitoring and engagement.