Physical Exercise and Health-Related Quality of Life in Office Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Office workers are at high risk for many chronic diseases, lowering their health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize the effects of physical exercise on HRQOL in office workers with and without health problems using data obtained from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-experimental, and observational studies. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and several grey literature databases, and identified 26 relevant studies for the synthesis. Overall, physical exercise significantly improved general (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 1.05; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66 to 1.44) and mental (SMD = 0.42; 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.66) HRQOL in office workers. Compared with healthy office workers, unhealthy office workers experienced greater improvements in general (unhealthy, SMD = 2.76; 95% CI: 1.63 to 3.89; healthy, SMD = 0.23; 95% CI: −0.09 to 0.56) and physical (unhealthy, SMD = 0.38; 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.58; healthy, SMD = −0.20; 95% CI: −0.51 to 0.11) HRQOL. Unsupervised physical exercise significantly improved general and mental HRQOL, while directly supervised physical exercise significantly improved only general HRQOL. Although physical exercise, especially unsupervised physical exercise, should be encouraged to improve HRQOL in office workers, detailed recommendations could not be made because of the diverse exercise types with different intensities. Therefore, further studies are needed to determine the optimal exercise for office workers with different health conditions.

Effects of an Eight-Week Concurrent Training Program with Different Effort Character over Physical Fitness, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Lipid Profile among Hospital Workers: Preliminary Results

“…In comparison, the EC 100% group improved in PCS with a moderate ES (0.56). Our results agreed with those found in the review conducted by Nguyen et al [42], in which most of the randomized control trials conducted in healthy office workers reported no differences in HRQoL scores.…”

Positive Effects of an Online Workplace Exercise Intervention during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Quality of Life Perception in Computer Workers: A Quasi-Experimental Study Design

“…In this scenario, Labour Gymnastics will be carried out remotely, through digital videoconference tools. Recent reviews investigating the effects of physical exercise on the health of office workers [ 21 , 37 , 38 ] reported the significant and protective effects of physical exercise on musculoskeletal pain symptoms (i.e., neck pain and low back pain) [ 21 , 29 , 38 ], with some studies indicating a significant association between physical exercise and QoL [ 21 , 29 , 31 , 39 ]. Previous reviews focused mostly on office workers with musculoskeletal disorders, the most common work-related chronic conditions.…”

“…Improving QoL is, therefore, a challenge for occupational health, not least because the work context is crucial for the development and creation of health promotion actions within the scope of work activity [ 38 , 39 , 41 ]. As far as we know, there are few studies about the effects of exercise intervention on the perception of health-related quality of life in computer workers, but studies of this kind would facilitate more efficient preventive and interventional approaches.…”

The Influence of Chinese College Students’ Physical Exercise on Life Satisfaction: The Chain Mediation Effect of Core Self-evaluation and Positive Emotion

“…Although few studies have directly examined the relationship between physical exercise and life satisfaction, a number of studies have examined the positive effects of physical exercise on mental health. For example, moderate physical exercise can promote the improvement of individual psychological regulation ability, reduce the level of depression and anxiety, and can significantly improve the individual’s quality of life ( Kvam et al, 2016 ; Frederiksen et al, 2021 ; Nguyen et al, 2021 ). When individuals are physically healthy, emotionally sound and have a high quality of life, they may also be more satisfied with their current life.…”