how to stop background app refreshing in iOS9
There is a difference between background app refresh and push notifications. Push notifications have been with the iPhone almost since inception. If you want to disable those, go to the Settings app and then Notifications. Choose the app in question and disable all notifications. 

If you have disabled Background App Refresh, then that is set and it is disabled. There shouldn't be any need to do anything else and battery life will be maintained. Push notifications cause minimal battery loss and apply to all apps the same. As described above, you can disable those, still.