Introduction Office employees are exposed to hazardous levels of sedentary work. Interventions that integrate health promotion and health protection elements are needed to advance the health of ...sedentary workers. This study tested an integrated intervention on occupational sedentary/physical activity behaviors, cardiometabolic disease biomarkers, musculoskeletal discomfort, and work productivity. Design Two-group, RCT. Data were collected between January and August 2014. Setting/participants Overweight/obese adults working in sedentary desk jobs were randomized to: (1) a health protection–only group (HPO, n =27); or (2) an integrated health protection/health promotion group (HP/HP, n =27). Intervention HPO participants received an ergonomic workstation optimization intervention and three e-mails/week promoting rest breaks and posture variation. HP/HP participants received the HPO intervention plus access to a seated activity permissive workstation. Main outcome measures Occupational sedentary and physical activity behaviors (primary outcomes), cardiometabolic health outcomes, musculoskeletal discomfort, and work productivity (secondary outcomes) were measured at baseline and post-intervention (16 weeks). Results The HP/HP group increased occupational light intensity physical activity over the HPO group and used the activity permissive workstations 50 minutes/work day. Significant associations were observed between activity permissive workstation adherence and improvements in several cardiometabolic biomarkers (weight, total fat mass, resting heart rate, body fat percentage) and work productivity outcomes (concentration at work, days missed because of health problems). Conclusions The HP/HP group increased occupational physical activity and greater activity permissive workstation adherence was associated with improved health and work productivity outcomes. These findings are important for employers interested in advancing the well-being of sedentary office workers. Trial registration This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT02071420.
Determinants of Gait Speed in COPD Karpman, Craig, MD; DePew, Zachary S., MD; LeBrasseur, Nathan K., PhD ...
Chest,
07/2014, Letnik:
146, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
BACKGROUND Measures of physical function, daily physical activity, and exercise capacity have been proposed for the care of patients with COPD but are not used routinely in daily office care. Gait ...speed is a powerful and simple measure of physical function in elderly patients and seems to be a promising measure for the daily care of patients with COPD. The objective of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the determinants and factors influencing gait speed in COPD, particularly the association of gait speed with objectively measured physical activity and the most used exercise capacity field test in cardiopulmonary disease: the 6-min walk test (6MWT). METHODS One hundred thirty patients with stable COPD performed two different 4-m gait speed protocols (usual and maximal pace). We modeled gait speed using demographics, lung function, dyspnea, quality of life, physical activity monitoring, exercise capacity, mood, cognitive function, and health-care use. RESULTS Gait speed was independently associated with 6MWT but not with daily physical activity. The correlation between gait speed and 6MWT was high regardless of protocol used ( r = 0.77-0.80). Both 6MWT and gait speed shared similar constructs. Gait speed had an excellent ability to predict poor (≤ 350 m) or very poor (≤ 200 m) 6MWT distances (areas under the curve, 0.87 and 0.98, respectively). Gait speed was not independently associated with quality of life, mood, or cognitive function. CONCLUSIONS Gait speed is more indicative of exercise capacity (6MWT) than daily physical activity in COPD. Despite its simplicity, gait speed has outstanding screening properties for detecting poor and very poor 6MWT performance, making it a useful and informative tool for the clinical care of patients with COPD.
Introduction Prolonged sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for many negative health outcomes. Although many employers have begun introducing sit–stand desks as means of reducing ...employee’s occupational sitting time, few studies have examined the impact of prolonged access to such desks on sitting/standing time or cardiometabolic outcomes. The present study compared occupational sedentary/physical activity behaviors and cardiometabolic biomarkers among employees with long-term access to traditional sitting and sit–stand desks. Methods This study used a naturalistic, cross-sectional study design. Occupational sedentary and physical activity behaviors and cardiometabolic health outcomes were collected in a controlled laboratory between February and June 2014. Data were analyzed in September 2014. Adults working in full-time sedentary desk jobs who reported having either a sit–stand desk ( n =31) or standard sitting desk ( n =38) for a minimum of 6 months were recruited. Results Employees with sit–stand desks sat less ( p =0.02) and stood more at work ( p =0.01) compared with employees with sitting desks. Significant inverse correlations were observed between several occupational physical activity outcomes (walking time, steps at work) and cardiometabolic risk factors (systolic blood pressure, weight, lean mass, BMI) over the entire sample. Conclusions Employees with long-term access to sit–stand desks sat less and stood more compared with employees with sitting desks. These findings hold public health significance, as sit–stand desks represent a potentially sustainable approach for reducing sedentary behavior among the large, growing number of sedentary workers at increased risk for sedentariness-related pathologies.
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