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Occupational Physical Activity Among Pregnant Employees in the Danish Workforce: The PRECISE Occupational Cohort
Hannah Nørtoft Frankel1,2, Katia Keglberg Hærvig1, Esben Meulengracht Flachs1
1Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital - Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Purpose:
Occupational physical activity (OPA) has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes, although findings are not consistent. This paper describes the PRECISE Occupational Cohort, designed with the purpose to obtain comprehensive information on OPA with objective measurements and prospective information on pregnancy-related discomforts and sick leave among pregnant employees in Denmark.
Methods:
A total of 1556 pregnant participants were included between January 2023 and June 2024 from six obstetric departments in relation to the first trimester ultrasound scan. Information on OPA, pregnancy-related discomforts and sick leave was collected by repeated weekly questionnaires. Additionally, a subgroup of 327 pregnant participants and 90 non-pregnant co-workers were invited for repeated objective measurements, and/or workplace observations. A total of 603 accelerometer measurements from 412 unique participants, and 138 workplace observations were obtained from 102 unique participants. Time spent standing, walking and forward bending was acquired by accelerometers, and information on lifting and person-handlings was quantified by observations. All participants covered 197 occupational codes.
Results:
A total of 1008 pregnant participants on average responded to the weekly questionnaires from pregnancy weeks 12-40. High frequencies of pregnancy discomforts were reported throughout pregnancy, and on average only 11% reported no discomforts. Pregnancy-related sick leave increased throughout pregnancy, peaking in pregnancy week 29, where 26% reported at least one day of pregnancy-related sick leave in the past week.
Conclusion:
This cohort provides unique repeated measurements with comprehensive information about pregnant employees across many jobs, disclosing high levels of pregnancy discomforts and sick leave throughout pregnancy. The information will enable investigation of the associations of OPA, pregnancy-related discomforts and sick leave on a more detailed level than now. The objective measurements with novel information on OPA will contribute to the development of quantitative Job Exposure Matrices enabling investigation of the association between OPA and adverse pregnancy outcomes in larger populations, with the potential to strengthen preventive guidelines.
