ABSTRACT: PURPOSE:To examine differences in activity patterns across employment and occupational classifications. DESIGN:Cross-sectional. SETTING:A 2005-2006 Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. SAMPLE:Participants with valid accelerometry data (n = 2068). MEASURES:Uniaxial accelerometry data (ActiGraph 7164), accumulated during waking hours, were summarized as mean activity counts (counts/min) and time spent (min/d) in long-bout sedentary (?30 minutes, SED?30), short-bout sedentary (<30 minutes, SED<30), light physical activity (LPA), short-bout moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (<10 minutes, MVPA<10), and long-bout MVPA (?10 minutes, MVPA?10) using Freedson cut-points. Employment status was self-reported as full time, part time, unemployed, keeping house, or raising children. Self-reported job duties were categorized into 23 major groups using the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification. ANALYSIS:Omnibus differences were analyzed using adjusted analysis of covariance and repeated after stratification by race (black/white) and sex (female/male). RESULTS:SED?30, SED<30, LPA, and MVPA<10 differed significantly by employment and occupational categories (P ? .05), while MVPA?10 did not (P ? .50). SED?30, SED<30, and LPA differed by occupational classification in men, women, blacks, and whites (P < .05). Mean activity counts, MVPA<10, and MVPA?10 were significantly different across occupational classifications in whites (P ? .05), but not in blacks (P > .05). Significant differences in mean activity counts and MVPA<10 across occupational classifications were found in males (P ? .001), but not in females (P > .05). CONCLUSION:Time within activity intensity categories differs across employment and occupational classifications and by race and sex.
