Association of Context-Specific Sitting Time with Healthcare Costs at Midlife: The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966...

Prolonged sitting is linked to poor health outcomes; however, its context, particularly work versus leisure, and its economic impact are less understood. This study examined the extent and context of daily sitting time and its association with annual healthcare costs at midlife in a large Finnish cohort.

A sample ( n = 7147) of Finnish adults at the 46-yr follow-up point of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study was used. Data were collected between 2012 and 2014, including self-reported sitting time (work and leisure) and healthcare costs estimated from self-reported visits to public, private, and occupational primary healthcare services using unit costs based on the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. Finally, a generalized linear model (gamma distribution with log link), was used to examine the associations between sitting time and annual healthcare costs.

Total sitting time was 7.3 ± 3.3 h·d -1 , including 4.0 ± 2.2 h·d -1 during leisure and 3.4 ± 2.6 h·d -1 at work. In adjusted generalized linear model analyses, participants in the second quartile of work-related sitting (1.01-3.00 h·d -1 ) had approximately 20% higher annual primary healthcare costs compared with those in the lowest quartile ( P = 0.025). Leisure-time sitting showed no independent association.

In this population-based cohort, work-related sitting, but not leisure-time sitting, was associated with higher annual primary healthcare costs. These findings highlight the potential economic impact of occupational sedentary behavior and suggest that work-related sitting should be considered in future strategies and studies addressing sedentary behavior in workplace settings.