Intervention Study, Quality of Life, Sedentary Lifestyle, Workplace
Conditions
Keywords
workplace, sedentary behavior, physical activity, physical risk factors, mental well-being, presenteeism, work productivity, activity-related energy expenditures
Brief summary
This study assesses the short and mid-term impacts of a workplace web-based intervention (Walk@WorkSpain, W@WS) on self-reported occupational sitting time, step counts, activity-related energy expenditure, physical risk factors for chronic disease and efficiency-related outcomes in Spanish office employees. Half of participants had access to the W@WS website program while the other half was asked to maintain habitual behaviour.
Detailed description
Rising numbers of people have to sit for long hours every day especially for work and transport (3401184). This sedentary pattern that has been detrimentally associated with obesity and cardiovascular disease markers (4604082). However, replacing as little as 10 minutes of sedentary time with the same amount of light or moderate physical activity is associated with substantial health benefits (i.e. reduction of the metabolic syndrome) (26635358). Because eighty percent of adults in developed countries spend one third of their working day doing sedentary, desk-based tasks (24603203) -representing a high exposure to this established health risk- displacing occupational sitting with physical activity may be a feasible option for improving office employees´ health and therefore public health (26984326). In this context, there is a need to develop and evaluate translational research, based on theoretically-derived strategies, that can be successfully embedded into workplaces (26984326).
Interventions
BEHAVIORALA workplace sit less and move more web-based program for Spanish office employees
W@WS encourages office employees to progressively 'sit less and move more' during workdays over 19 weeks. During the first 8 weeks (ramping phase), tips are provided every two weeks to break occupational sitting time through incidental movement during work tasks, introduce short walks (5-10 minutes) during morning/afternoon work breaks and/or commuting time, introduce longer walks at lunchtime and achieve at least 10,000 daily steps as well as increase walking intensity. During weeks 9 to 19, W@WS provides automated guidance with periodic emails encouraging behaviors achieved in the previous phase. Ecological support strategies such as logging daily step counts into a personal account and receiving visual feedback on the achievement of goals are also provided
BEHAVIORALActive Comparison group
The Active Comparison group maintained habitual behavior. The A-CG was given a pedometer and a paper diary to register daily step counts and self-reported sitting time throughout the intervention.
Sponsors
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain
University Ramon Llull
University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)
University of Vigo
The University of Queensland
University of Leeds
University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Office employees (university administrative and academic staff) with low and moderate physical activity levels (0 to 3,000 MET·min·wk-1 according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire)
Exclusion criteria
* Highly active office employees (\>3,000 MET·min·wk-1 according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from baseline occupational sitting time (minutes/day) at post-intervention (19 weeks) and two months follow-up. | Baseline,19 weeks, two months follow-up | A paper diary log assessed self-reported occupational sitting time. |
| Change from baseline step counts (steps/day) at post-intervention (19 weeks) and two months follow-up | Baseline,19 weeks, two months follow-up | A pedometer (Yamax 200) assessed daily step counts |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from baseline blood pressure (mmHg) at post-intervention (19 weeks) and two months follow-up | Baseline, 19 weeks, two months follow-up | A digital automatic blood pressure monitor (Omron M7) assessed blood pressure. |
| Change from baseline mental well-being (WEMWBS scale scores) at post-intervention (19 weeks) and two months follow-up | Baseline, 19 weeks, two months follow-up | The Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) assessed mental well-being |
| Change from baseline waist circumference (cms) at post-intervention (19 weeks) and two months follow-up | Baseline,19 weeks, two months follow-up | A flexible steel tape (Seca 203) assessed waist circumference |
| Change from baseline % work productivity loss (WLQ index score) at post-intervention (19 weeks) and two months follow-up | Baseline, 19 weeks, two months follow-up | The Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) assessed % of work productivity loss |
| Change from baseline activity-related energy expenditure (METs-min/week) at post-intervention (19 weeks) and two months follow-up. | Baseline, 19 weeks, two months follow-up | The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form assessed activity-related energy expenditure |
| Change from baseline presenteeism (WLQ scores) at post-intervention (19 weeks) and two months follow-up | Baseline, 19 weeks, two months follow-up | The Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) assessed presenteeism. |
| Change from baseline body mass index (kgs/m-2) at post-intervention (19 weeks) and two months follow-up | Baseline, 19 weeks, two months follow-up | An electronic scale (Seca 899/217) assessed body weight and height to calculate BMI. |
Countries
Spain
Outcome results
None listed