An mHealth Workplace-Based “Sit Less, Move More” Program: Impact on Employees’ Sedentary and Physical Activity Patterns at Work and Away from Work

Background: Most workplace interventions that aim to reduce sedentary behaviour have 38 focused on employees’ sedentary patterns at-work but less have focused on understanding the 39 impact beyond working time. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a 13-week m-40 health workplace-based...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Bort-Roig, Judit; Chirveches-Pérez, Emilia; Giné-Garriga, Maria; Navarro-Blasco, Lydia; Bausà-Peris, Roser; Iturrioz-Rosell, Pedro; González-Suárez, Angel M.; Martínez-Lemos, Iván; Puigoriol-Juvanteny, Emma; Dowd, Kieran; Puig-Ribera, Anna
Format: Article
Status:Published version
Publication date:2020
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Ramon Llull (URL)
Repository:DAU Arxiu Digital de la Universitat Ramon Llull
OAI Identifier:oai:dau.url.edu:20.500.14342/2376
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/2376
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238844
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Sedentarisme
Treballadors d'oficina
Exercici
Salut
Qualitat de vida
Description
Summary:Background: Most workplace interventions that aim to reduce sedentary behaviour have 38 focused on employees’ sedentary patterns at-work but less have focused on understanding the 39 impact beyond working time. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a 13-week m-40 health workplace-based ‘sit less, move more’ intervention (Walk@WorkApp; W@W-App) on 41 physical activity (PA) and sitting in desk-based employees at-work and away from work. Methods: Participants (n = 141) were assigned by hospital to an intervention group (IG; used the W@W-App; n = 90) or an active comparison group (A-CG; monitored occupational activity; n = 51). The W@W-App, installed on the participants´ own smartphones, provided real-time feedback for occupational sitting, standing, and stepping, and gave access to automated strategies to sit less and move more at work. Changes between groups were assessed for total sitting time, sedentary bouts and breaks, and light and moderate-to-vigorous PA (activPAL3TM; min/day) between the baseline and after program completion. Results: Compared to the A-CG, employees that used the W@W-App program increased their number of daily breaks and the time spent on short sedentary bouts (<20 min, p = 0.047) during weekends. Changes in shortest sedentary bouts (5–10 min) during weekends were also statistically significant (p < 0.05). No changes in workday PA or sitting were observed. Conclusion: Desk-based employees seemed to transfer the W@W-App program knowledge outside of work. Evaluating the impact of workplace (mHealth-based or not) interventions at work but also away from work would provide a better understating of the impact of such interventions