Occupational physical activity in brewery and office workers

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Kinesiology
• Wearable Technology

Background:

• Workplace environments increasingly promote sedentary behavior due to technological advancements.
• Maintaining physical activity at work is crucial for employee health and well-being.
• Characterizing occupational physical activity (OPA) is essential for understanding health risks in different job roles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the agreement between two activity trackers (Fitbit Charge HR and Hexoskin) for measuring OPA.
• To compare OPA levels between workers in physically active (brewery) and sedentary (office) job environments.
• To quantify differences in steps, heart rate, and energy expenditure between these worker groups.

Main Methods:

• Two activity trackers assessed steps, heart rate, and energy expenditure during a full work shift.
• Data collected from 50 brewery workers and 51 office workers across various sectors.
• Statistical analysis included a two-factor repeated measures ANOVA for device agreement and t-tests for group comparisons.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were found in total steps and mean heart rate between the two activity tracking devices.
• Workers in physically active environments showed significantly higher steps, mean heart rate, and energy expenditure compared to sedentary workers.
• These findings provide quantitative evidence of distinct OPA levels across different occupations.

Conclusions:

• Activity trackers can provide valuable data on OPA, though device agreement needs consideration.
• Significant disparities in OPA exist between active and sedentary job roles.
• Identifying and quantifying OPA is critical for targeted workplace health interventions and policies.