Psychosocial effects of workplace physical exercise among workers with chronic pain

Abstract

While workplace physical exercise can help manage musculoskeletal disorders, less is known about psychosocial effects of such interventions. This aim of this study was to investigate the effect of workplace physical exercise on psychosocial factors among workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain.The trial design was a 2-armed parallel-group randomized controlled trial with allocation concealment. A total of 66 slaughterhouse workers (51 men and 15 women, mean age 45 years [standard deviation (SD) 10]) with upper limb chronic musculoskeletal pain were randomly allocated to group-based strength training (physical exercise group) or individual ergonomic training and education (reference group) for 10 weeks. Social climate was assessed with the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work, and vitality and mental health were assessed with the 36-item Short Form Health Survey. All scales were converted to 0 to 100 (higher scores are better). Between-group differences from baseline to follow-up were determined using linear mixed models adjusted for workplace, age, gender, and baseline values of the outcome.Mean baseline scores of social climate, mental health, and vitality were 52.2 (SD 14.9), 79.5 (SD 13.7), and 53.9 (SD 19.7), respectively. Complete baseline and follow-up data were obtained from 30 and 31 from the physical exercise and reference groups, respectively. The between-group differences from baseline to follow-up between physical exercise and reference were 7.6 (95% CI 0.3 to 14.9), −2.3 (95% CI -10.3 to 5.8), and 10.1 (95% CI 0.6 to 19.5) for social climate, mental health, and vitality, respectively. For social climate and vitality, this corresponded to moderate effect sizes (Cohen d = 0.51 for both) in favor of physical exercise. There were no reported adverse events.In conclusion, workplace physical exercise performed together with colleagues improves social climate and vitality among workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Mental health remained unchanged.

Psychosocial effects of workplace exercise – A systematic review

“…In a meta-analysis from 2009 (19), Conn et al evaluated the effects of workplace exercise interventions on different health parameters and found a positive association on quality of life and mood measurements, though not reaching statistical significance. More recently, Danish studies have indicated that work place exercise might influence workplace parameters such as work ability (22,23) and sickness absence (22) as well as the psychosocial work environment, eg, social capital (24,25). Other studies have shown uncertain effects of workplace exercise interventions (19,26).…”

“…Most studies (N=17) (24,25,(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47) were conducted in Europe, the rest in North America (48,49), Japan (50,51), and Australia (52). The workplace settings varied from employees working in office/having administrative tasks (N=10) (34,35,37,38,41,43,(47)(48)(49)52), to health personnel in hospitals/nursing homes (N=5) (25,33,44,46,50), to laboratory technicians (N=2) (39,42), to other manual job settings or workplaces with a mix of work tasks (N=5) (24,36,40,45,51). Sample size ranged from 24-860 participants, with a total of 4010 participants throughout the studies.…”

“…Sample size ranged from 24-860 participants, with a total of 4010 participants throughout the studies. The majority of studies (N=12) (25,33,34,36,38,40,42,43,46,(50)(51)(52) were based on healthy workers, three studies (24,39,48) examined workers with musculoskeletal problems, three studies (41,45,49) looked at sedentary/physical inactive workers, two studies (35,47) included workers with light mental health complaints, one study (37) looked at workers with both mental and/or musculoskeletal complaints, and another (44) examined high aged workers. The exercise interventions consisted of a wide range of different exercises offered from 6-86 weeks (21 months), with most studies offering an intervention period ranging from 8-12 weeks (24, 25, 33-37, 39, 47, 48, 50-52) N=13.…”

“…The exercise interventions consisted of a wide range of different exercises offered from 6-86 weeks (21 months), with most studies offering an intervention period ranging from 8-12 weeks (24, 25, 33-37, 39, 47, 48, 50-52) N=13. Interventions could be subdivided into cardio/aerobics (N=3) (35,36,46), strength/resistance (N=6) (24,25,33,40,42,43), yoga (41,47), and a mix in seven (34,39,(42)(43)(44)(45)49). Many studies were designed with an active reference group, offering an alternative exercise (24,25,33,34,36,43,49).…”

Intervenção multifacetada pode reduzir e prevenir distúrbios osteomusculares e suas consequências em trabalhadores de uma empresa de médio porte

“…Muitos trabalhadores concordaram que houve melhora em sua produtividade e bem-estar (mais disposição, fazer mais pausas, mais conforto, melhor qualidade de vida no trabalho e produtividade e visão positiva da empresa). A GL é apontada como um possível contribuinte para promover relaxamento e sociabilização [96][97][98] , o que poderia afetar positivamente a produtividade ou até melhorar a imagem que os trabalhadores tem da empresa 99,100 . Prolongar o tempo produtivo dos trabalhadores, evitando aposentadorias precoces, pode ser benéfico para a sociedade em geral.…”