Sitting time and step counts in office workers

Jan 31, 2014Occupational medicine (Oxford, England)

Time spent sitting and daily steps in office workers

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Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Participants spent 65% of their working hours sitting.

The average number of steps taken at work was 3742±2493, while outside work it was 5159±2474 on workdays.
Workers in the highest tertile of workplace sitting spent significantly more time sitting during transport (64±59 minutes) compared to those in the lowest tertile (21±16 minutes).
After work, high sitting tertile participants reported sitting for 154±30 minutes, while those in the lowest tertile sat for 126±51 minutes.
During weekends, individuals in the highest tertile sat for 382±133 minutes compared to 288±124 minutes for those in the lowest tertile.
No differences were observed in work duration or steps taken outside work between the sitting tertiles.

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BACKGROUND: Technological advances mean that many adults are now employed in sedentary occupations. Given evidence linking prolonged sitting to chronic disease risk, understanding sitting and physical activity in and outside the workplace may usefully inform effective interventions.

AIMS: To assess sitting time and physical activity during and outside working hours in full-time office workers.

METHODS: Participants wore a pedometer and recorded sitting times and step counts during and outside working hours for 7 days. Participants were divided into tertiles based on the proportion of time spent sitting at work. Sitting times and step counts reported outside work were compared between groups, using one-way analysis of variance.

RESULTS: There were 72 participants. Almost two-thirds (65%) of time at work was spent sitting. The sample accumulated 3742±2493 steps at work and 5159±2474 steps outside work on workdays. Participants in the highest tertile for workplace sitting reported sitting for longer than those in the lowest tertile during transport (64±59 versus 21±16min), after work (154±30 versus 126±51min) and at weekends (382±133 versus 288±124min, all P < 0.05). Work duration and steps reported outside work did not differ between groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Office workers who sit for a large proportion of their working day also report sitting for longer outside work. They do not compensate for their sedentary behaviour at work by being more active outside work. Occupational health interventions should focus on reducing workplace and leisure-time sitting in sedentary office workers.

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Sitting time and step counts in office workers

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