Assessing Energy Expenditure in Female Healthcare Workers in a University Hospital

The assessment of energy expenditure (EE) at workplaces maintains a central topic in occupational health due to increasing work-related issues. Today 80% of employees in the healthcare system are women. Limited research concerning their physical activity at work is available. The purpose of the study was the investigation of body composition, maximum physical capacity and quantification of physical work activity for female healthcare workers under real-time conditions.

Occupational physical activity (PA) of 33 female healthcare workers in a university hospital was quantified. Health associate professionals (HAP), health professionals (HP), and females working from cleaners and helpers (CH) department participated. All underwent cardio pulmonary exercise test. For every working task VO2, VCO2 and RER were measured and EE was calculated individually for each task.

Forty-two different working tasks were identified and grouped in seven categories to compare physical activity (PA): 'office and laboratory work', 'bedside patient care', 'instrument reprocessing, packing boxes', 'walking with patient, or alone', 'pushing carts or wheelchairs', 'strenuous cleaning in bent posture' and 'lifting heavy boxes, weights or items'. By comparing groups of healthcare workers, CH and HAP spent significant (p < 0.01) more EE (in kcal/min) 3.9 resp. 3.2 than HP 2.5. Light PA e.g. office and laboratory work (2.7 ± 0.6) and bedside patient care (2.9 ± 0.7) were accomplished by HP and HAP while HAP and CH performed moderate PA such as 'packing boxes' (3.6 ± 0.8), 'pushing carts' and 'strenuous cleaning' (4.7 ± 0.9). Work performed by CH and HAP, i.e. 'strenuous cleaning' and 'lifting heavy items' showed highest kcal per kg Fat Free Mass (FFM) per hour with 5.80 [4.05-7.81] and 6.94 [5.18-9.03] kcal/kgFFM/h.

Our findings lend preliminary support to the hypothesis that the majority of activities in female healthcare workers were of low and moderate PA and can be accomplished by middle aged and even older female workers. CH performed tasks with heavy physical activities (PA) like cleaning and lifting heavy weights. HAP performed light/moderate PA below their maximum physical capacity.