Effects of Physical Activity and Counselling Interventions on Health Outcomes among Working Women in Shanghai: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background：Working women in Shanghai are a special group with a high risk of suffering work stress and burnout. They were disturbed by the work-family conflicts, which resulted in lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL), higher job stress and burnout. This study evaluated the potential physical activity and counselling intervention effects on health outcomes of working women in Shanghai participating in a group- or an individual-based physical activity and counselling intervention compared to a control group.Methods：Participants were randomly recruited from eight communities of Shanghai using the stratified cluster sampling method. A sample of 121 female workers was used in this study. They were randomly divided into three groups: a control group and two intervention groups (individual-based and group-based intervention). The two intervention groups accepted 12-week moderate physical activity and counselling intervention. Subjective perceptions of work stress, burnout, and HRQoL were measured before and after the intervention. Results：In the control group, no significant difference was found between participants for stress (p = 0.752) and burnout (p = 0.622) before and after the experiment. However, the HRQoL value decreased after the experiment, with the mean value falling from 91.59 to 87.10. After the experiment, the values of stress and burnout decreased, and the value of HRQoL increased in the two intervention groups. At the intervention’s completion, there were significant differences compared the two intervention groups to the control group separately regarding changes in burnout and HRQoL (all p < 0.01). For stress, the group-based intervention group exhibited a significant difference compared to the control group (p < 0.01), while the individual-based intervention group did not exhibit a significant difference compared to the control group (p = 0.128).Conclusion: Physical activity and counselling intervention delivered either in a group or individual format could reduce burnout and improve HRQoL of working women in Shanghai, and the group interventions were more effective than those targeted at individuals.