Rise and Recharge: Effects on Activity Outcomes of an e-Health Smartphone Intervention to Reduce Office Workers'...

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Digital Health Interventions
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Prolonged sedentary behavior is a significant health risk for office workers.
• Existing interventions often lack sustained engagement and personalized feedback.
• e-health smartphone applications offer a scalable solution to address sedentary work habits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of an e-health smartphone application intervention to reduce total and prolonged sedentary behavior during working hours among office workers.
• To compare the effectiveness of different prompt frequencies (30 vs. 60 minutes) in reducing sedentary time.
• To assess the impact on behavioral outcomes and cardiometabolic risk factors.

Main Methods:

• A 12-week, three-arm, quasi-randomized controlled trial involving office workers.
• Intervention arms utilized a smartphone application with prompts every 30 or 60 minutes to reduce sitting.
• Behavioral outcomes (sitting, standing, stepping, prolonged sitting) were measured via accelerometry; anthropometrics and cardiometabolic measures were also assessed.

Main Results:

• The 60-minute prompt group significantly reduced occupational sitting time at 6 and 12 weeks compared to the no-prompt control group.
• Sedentary time was primarily replaced by standing, with no significant changes in stepping or cardiometabolic risk.
• Both intervention groups showed a trend towards reduced prolonged sitting bouts, though not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

• A smartphone e-health application is a feasible tool for reducing occupational sedentary behavior in office workers.
• A 60-minute prompt frequency appears more effective than 30-minute prompts for reducing total sitting time.
• Further research is warranted to optimize intervention design and explore effects on cardiometabolic health.