Dataset Information

Does Active Design Influence Activity, Sitting, Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace? A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT: Active design is an emerging concept to incorporate physical activity into daily life through thoughtful design, and is often implemented in new building designs. It is, however, not known what evidence base there is to support the claims. Through this systematic review, the current evidence for active design was investigated. Seven databases were searched. A range of search terms relating to active design, physical activity, sitting, performance and wellbeing were used. After title and abstract screening of 1174 papers and full-text screening, 17 were selected for inclusion. The papers provided promising evidence of active design aiding a reduction in sitting and increase in standing time. Limited evidence was found for physical activity; a few studies reported an increase in step counts. Musculoskeletal effects were investigated in few studies, but there is some evidence of benefits to lower back pain. There was consistent evidence for better light and air quality, but no evidence for other features of the workplace environment. No conclusive evidence was found on associations between active design features and work performance. There is hence some evidence to support the benefit of active design on physical health; however, the dearth and heterogeneity of the study designs, measures and findings warrant further research.

SUBMITTER: Engelen L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7764065 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Does Active Design Influence Activity, Sitting, Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace? A Systematic Review.

Engelen Lina L

International journal of environmental research and public health 20201210 24

Active design is an emerging concept to incorporate physical activity into daily life through thoughtful design, and is often implemented in new building designs. It is, however, not known what evidence base there is to support the claims. Through this systematic review, the current evidence for active design was investigated. Seven databases were searched. A range of search terms relating to active design, physical activity, sitting, performance and wellbeing were used. After title and abstract ...[more]

PMID: 33321818

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Project description:BackgroundHealthy lifestyles play an important role in the prevention of premature death, chronic diseases, productivity loss and other social and economic concerns. However, workplace interventions to address issues of fitness and nutrition which include work-related outcomes are complex and thus challenging to implement and appropriately measure the effectiveness of. This systematic review investigated the impact of workplace nutrition and physical activity interventions, which include components aimed at workplace's physical environment and organizational structure, on employees' productivity, work performance and workability.MethodsA systematic review that included randomized controlled trials and or non-randomized controlled studies was conducted. Medline, EMBASE.com, Cochrane Library and Scopus were searched until September 2016. Productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism, work performance and workability were the primary outcomes of our interest, while sedentary behavior and changes in other health-related behaviors were considered as secondary outcomes. Two reviewers independently screened abstracts and full-texts for study eligibility, extracted the data and performed a quality assessment using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk-of-Bias Tool for randomized trials and the Risk-of-Bias in non-randomized studies of interventions. Findings were narratively synthesized.ResultsThirty-nine randomized control trials and non-randomized controlled studies were included. Nearly 28% of the included studies were of high quality, while 56% were of medium quality. The studies covered a broad range of multi-level and environmental-level interventions. Fourteen workplace nutrition and physical activity intervention studies yielded statistically significant changes on absenteeism (n = 7), work performance (n = 2), workability (n = 3), productivity (n = 1) and on both workability and productivity (n = 1). Two studies showed effects on absenteeism only between subgroups.ConclusionsThe scientific evidence shows that it is possible to influence work-related outcomes, especially absenteeism, positively through health promotion efforts that include components aimed at the workplace's physical work environment and organizational structure. In order to draw further conclusions regarding work-related outcomes in controlled high-quality studies, long-term follow-up using objective outcomes and/or quality assured questionnaires are required.Trial registrationRegistration number: PROSPERO CRD42017081837.

Project description:ObjectiveWith the growing representation of older adults in the workforce, the health and fitness of older employees are critical to support active ageing policies. This systematic review aimed to characterise and evaluate the effects on physical activity (PA) and fitness outcomes of workplace PA interventions targeting older employees.DesignWe searched Medline, PreMedline, PsycInfo, CINAHL and the Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL) for articles published from inception to 17 February 2020. Eligible studies were of any experimental design, included employees aged ≥50 years, had PA as an intervention component and reported PA-related outcomes.ResultsTitles and abstracts of 8168 records were screened, and 18 unique interventions were included (3309 participants). Twelve studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Seven interventions targeted multiple risk factors (n=1640), involving screening for cardiovascular disease risk factors, but had a non-specific description of the PA intervention. Four interventions targeted nutrition and PA (n=1127), and seven (n=235) focused only on PA. Interventions overwhelmingly targeted aerobic PA, compared with only four interventions targeting strength and/or balance (n=106). No studies involved screening for falls/injury risk, and only two interventions targeted employees of low socioeconomic status. Computation of effect sizes (ESs) was only possible in a maximum of three RCTs per outcome. ESs were medium for PA behaviour (ES=0.25 95% CI -0.07 to 0.56), muscle strength (ES=0.27, 95% CI -0.26 to 0.80), cardiorespiratory fitness (ES=0.28, 95% CI -22 to 0.78), flexibility (ES=0.50, 95% CI -0.04 to 1.05) and balance (ES=0.74, 95% CI -0.21 to 1.69). Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation criteria-rated quality of evidence was 'low' due to high risk of bias, imprecision and inconsistency.ConclusionsThe lack of high-quality effective workplace PA interventions contrasts the importance and urgency to improve the health and fitness in this population. Future interventions should incorporate strength and balance training and screening of falls/injury risk in multi risk factors approaches.Prospero registration numberCRD42018084863. (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=84863).

Project description:BackgroundProlonged sitting is associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, some cancers, musculoskeletal disorders and premature mortality. Workplaces contribute to a large proportion of daily sitting time, particularly among office-based workers. Interventions to reduce workplace sitting therefore represent important public health initiatives. Previous systematic reviews suggest such interventions can be effective but have reported wide variations. Further, there is uncertainty as to whether effectiveness in controlled trials can be replicated when implemented outside the research setting. The aims of this review are to identify factors important for the implementation of workplace sitting interventions and to translate these findings into a useful operational framework to support the future implementation of such interventions.MethodsA qualitative systematic review was conducted. Four health and social science databases were searched for studies set in the workplace, with office-based employees and with the primary aim of reducing workplace sitting. Extracted data were primarily from author descriptions of interventions and their implementation. Inductive thematic analysis and synthesis was undertaken.ResultsForty studies met the inclusion criteria. Nine descriptive themes were identified from which emerged three higher-order analytical themes, which related to the development, implementation and evaluation of workplace sitting interventions. Key findings included: the importance of grounding interventions in theory; utilising participative approaches during intervention development and implementation; and conducting comprehensive process and outcome evaluations. There was a general under-reporting of information relating to the context within which workplace sitting interventions were implemented, such as details of local organisation processes and structures, as well as the wider political and economic landscape, which if present would aid the translation of knowledge into "real-world" settings.ConclusionsThese findings provided the basis for an operational framework, which is a representation of all nine descriptive themes and three higher-order analytical themes, to support workplace sitting intervention development, implementation and evaluation. Once tested and refined, this framework has the potential to be incorporated into a practical toolkit, which could be used by a range of organisations to develop, implement and evaluate their own interventions to reduce workplace sitting time amongst staff.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The workplace environment potentially provides access to a large population who are employed, and it is an employer's responsibility to provide appropriate conditions for its employees. Whilst the aetiology of cardiovascular disease is multifactorial, it is generally acknowledged that working conditions, gender and age are involved in its development. Male-dominated industries (comprising > 70% male workers, e.g., agriculture, construction, manufacturing, mining, transport and technology) have a higher prevalence of health risk behaviours than other population subgroups. Working in a gender-dominated industry can impact an employee's health and wellbeing, particularly for the opposite sex. This systematic review examines workplace interventions that address the health and wellbeing of employees in male-dominated industries. METHODS:We will include randomised controlled trials and studies with non-randomised intervention groups. The interventions must aim to improve employee physical and/or mental health and wellbeing implemented in the workplace in male-dominated industries. There will be no limits on date. The following electronic databases will be searched for published studies: Web of Science, Embed, MedLine, PsycInfo and the Cochrane Database. The search strategy will include free-text terms and MeSH vocabulary, including 'male-dominated industries', 'workplace interventions', 'occupational stress', 'mental health', 'cardiovascular disease', 'blood pressure', 'body mass index' and 'exercise'. Two authors will independently select, review and extract data from studies that meet the inclusion criteria. The Cochrane's Risk of Bias tool will be used to assess risk of bias. We will perform structured summaries of the included studies and, if possible, conduct meta-analyses or construct an Albatross plot. DISCUSSION:There are an increasing number of interventions designed to improve employee health and wellbeing in the workplace, but no prior review that systematically evaluates their effectiveness. A systematic review is required to prioritise the future implementation of those interventions found to be most effective. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION:PROSPERO CRD42019161283.

Dataset Information

Does Active Design Influence Activity, Sitting, Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace? A Systematic Review.

Publications

Does Active Design Influence Activity, Sitting, Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace? A Systematic Review.

Similar Datasets

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