A systematic review of randomized controlled trials examining workplace wellness interventions

Abstract

Background: One of the influencing factors associated with weight gain is overeating as a maladaptive coping strategy to process or avoid the emotional impact of psychological stress. Psychological stress is chronically and pervasively associated with stress stemming from the workplace environment. Workplace wellness interventions have a unique opportunity to change environmental factors impacting psychological stress, which can improve individual food choice and weight management efforts. Aim: To synthesize evidence from randomized controlled trials on workplace wellness interventions that impact employee psychological stress and food choice or weight management. Methods: A systematic review was completed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Selected studies were limited to English-language articles exploring randomized interventions at workplaces among adult employees and included measurements of psychometric stress and food choice (qualitative or quantitative) or biometric weight management. From the search, 10 studies were included in the final review. Results: Results were inconsistent across studies. There was no observable association between psychological stress reduction and food choice or weight management. Mid-length interventions (ranging from 6 to 9 months) had more consistent associations between intervention program implementation, reduced psychological stress, and improved food choice or weight management. Conclusions: The studies examining employee food choices and weight management efforts remained very heterogeneous, indicating that more research is needed in this specific area of employee wellness program planning and measurement. Consistent research methodology and assessment tools are needed to measure dietary intake.

How Well We Know Wellness: Closing the Gap on Wellness Program Research in the Workplace Through Mixed-methods Topic Modelling

“…Specifically, intervention studies often utilize a control and intervention treatment that lacks randomization, with participants selfselecting their condition, or incorporate multiple interventions without the use of a control (Mhurchu et al, 2010). Intervention research presents randomization and control treatment as difficult to incorporate effectively due to limitations ranging from the sample size to the workplace setting (Mhurchu et al, 2010;Murphy et al, 2021). This research looks at the trends in research design and participant treatment to better understand their varying levels of rigour.…”

How Well We Know Wellness: Closing the Gap on Wellness Program Research in the Workplace Through Mixed-methods Topic Modelling

“…Advancing the rigour of the field relies on a greater prioritization of consistent measurement and methodology, like randomization and control treatment, otherwise the findings and its contribution may not be trusted (Murphy et al, 2021). The results indicated that while a quantitative, pre-post test, randomized controlled trial is somewhat of a golden standard, it was not always prioritized.…”

Training Smart; Exploring the Impact of a University Staff Fitness Program on Employee Productivity and Cognition

“…Consistent parameters that improve the likelihood of positive outcomes are unclear, due to the heterogeneity of exercise interventions [8]. However, longer and multifaceted programs appear more successful than shorter and unidimensional ones [8,21]. Despite a lack of consensus surrounding best practice and less than half of implemented interventions being successful, workplace exercise programs are still encouraged by governments and corporations as a part of general occupational health promotion [10,22].…”