Factors for adherence to a physical activity promotion program in the workplace - A literature review

Abstract

Introduction The health benefits of physical activity are now widely accepted and proven. However, the physical activity of individuals has decreased over the last decades, in favor of sedentary behaviors, mainly due to changes in working patterns. Promoting physical activity in the workplace is therefore of major public health interest, but is limited by employees' adherence. Method A literature review was conducted to identify factors for adherence to a physical activity promotion program in the workplace. In March 2021, the terms "physical activity”, "physical exercise", "training”, "workplace", "worksite", and "employees" were searched in PubMed among scientific publications published over the 2000-2021 period. Results More than 900 publications were analyzed and 54 were retrieved. The main factors for adherence identified were the baseline physical activity level, health level and motivation at the individual level; the intervention individualization at the interventional level; and the work environment quality at the organizational level. Discussion These results are consistent with previously published studies, although their validity is limited by the high heterogeneity of the included studies. Assessing these factors for adherence now appears to be a necessary prerequisite before implementing a physical activity promotion program in the workplace.