Exploring Associations Between Device-Based Occupational Sedentary Behavior and Need for Recovery in White Collar...

Area of Science:

• Occupational health
• Workplace wellbeing
• Sedentary behavior research

Background:

• White collar workers increasingly engage in occupational sedentary behavior (OSB), posing health risks.
• The relationship between OSB and need for recovery (NFR), a key wellbeing indicator, remains unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between different occupational sedentary behavior (OSB) bout lengths and occupational physical activity (OPA) with the need for recovery (NFR) in white collar workers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized baseline data from 89 white collar workers in a cluster randomized controlled trial.
• Measured OSB and occupational physical activity (OPA) using accelerometers over 7 days.
• Assessed NFR via the Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work and analyzed data using compositional data analysis and linear regression.

Main Results:

• A significant association was found between a higher proportion of long OSB bouts and lower NFR (β: -11.30, 95% CI: -20.2 to -2.4).
• No significant associations were observed between short/medium OSB bouts or OPA and NFR.

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest that the duration of sedentary bouts, specifically longer ones, may negatively impact worker recovery.
• Contrasting trends between OSB bout lengths and OPA highlight the importance of considering bout characteristics in future research on workplace wellbeing.