Changes in Workers’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 has changed the world and strongly affected the health of the people and the quality of their life. These changes might impact employees’ physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB). This study aimed to summarize the literature focusing on the COVID-19-caused changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior among the adult working population. Methods: Literature searches were conducted in June 2021 using multiple electronic databases. The following keywords and synonyms were used during the searching process: physical activity, sedentary behavior, COVID-19, employee. After the data cleaning process (duplicates, inclusion criteria), the title and the abstract of all manuscripts from the searches were screened independently by two reviewers. Results: Thirty-nine manuscripts were selected as a result of the searching process. Of these, 5 were SB related, 15 were PA related and 19 addressed both PA and SB. There were longitudinal (10), cross-sectional (28) and a case study (1) in the selected manuscripts. The majority of studies were conducted in the USA (6) and Europe (18), and four studies examined the PA and/or SB in multiple countries. The majority (34 studies) of the studies used subjective, self-reported, but mostly before-validated questionnaires. Objective measures were less common and used only 12.8% of the examined studies. Moreover, 76.4% of the studies described an overall decrease in the amount of PA during the COVID-19 pandemic. In three cases, researchers observed an increase in PA among the workers. Five studies reported no significant changes in the amount of PA during the pandemic. As far as SB is concerned, 18 out of 24 of the studies reported an overall increase in the amount of SB between the two periods. Four manuscripts reported no significant change in the amount of SB, and there was only one manuscript in the examined studies that reported an overall decrease in the SB time before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion: There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdown and work from home (WFH) policies, impaired the PA and SB level of the populations. This period has delivered an important message for the adult working population as well. They should be as active as possible and avoid high levels of SB and uninterrupted sitting time. Therefore, organizations, policies and public health bodies should motivate workers, especially office workers, to be more active and interventions must be developed to mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 on PA and SB.

Comparative Study on Nutrition and Lifestyle of Information Technology Workers from Romania before and during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…We estimated the physical activity as time spent; counting the steps; the percentage of the sample; comparison with pre-pandemic IT workers. These results are similar to other studies that showed a decreased level of physical activity [ 28 , 29 ]. Besides the reduction in PA, the study revealed an increased time in sedentary behaviors, like working at the computer.…”

Change in Depression and Its Determinants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Examination among Racially/Ethnically Diverse US Adults

“…The implementation of preventive measures, such as social distancing, shelter-inplace, and work-from-home, have limited daily activities and in-person interactions. A recent review focusing on physical activity and sedentary behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic among employed adults reported consistent evidence of decreased overall physical activity levels and increased total sedentary behaviors across most of the studies from various countries [10]. Benefits of physical activity in preventing or treating depression have been shown in both observational and experimental studies [11].…”

Increased Health Risk in Office Workers in the COVID-19 Era

“…A number of studies have revealed that physical activity decreased and sedentary behavior increased among all age groups during the COVID-19 lockdown. 6 , 7 , 17 The results of this study revealed that many workers became physically inactive and gained weight even though a lockdown has never been imposed in Japan. Many companies introduced remote working with the COVID-19 pandemic as a trigger.…”

“…This study provides evidence for the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on workers’ health. Decreased physical activity and increased weight gain during the COVID-19 pandemic are important issues in most countries including Japan 6,,17 . The results of this study can provide valuable information for planning health promotion programs in the COVID-19 era.…”