The Effect of a Leisure Time Physical Activity Intervention Delivered via a Workplace: 15-Month Follow-Up Study

Abstract

In line with recommendations from both the World Health Organization and the European Union some employers encourage workplace health promotion through physical activity (PA) facilities and leisure time PA-initiatives. The current study describes a 15-month follow-up after an 8-week workplace delivered PA-initiative, investigates if improvements in cardiovascular risk status are sustainable, and elucidates differences according to educational level. One hundred and twenty one employees (43 women) were examined before and after the 8-week PA-initiative and 94 at the 15-month follow-up. PA-levels, blood pressure, resting heart rate, lipids, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), C-reactive protein (CRP), and selected markers of inflammation were registered at baseline, immediately after the 8-week PA-initiative, and 15 months after baseline. At the end of follow-up (15-month), PA-levels—increased during the 8-week intervention—had returned to baseline values. None of the five improvements in cardiovascular markers (total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), P-selectin, CD40Ligand (CD40L) and Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1)) seen at the 8-week follow-up were sustained. At the 15-month follow-up as compared to baseline HbA1c, CRP (log) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were reduced by 0.06 mmol/L (95% CI −0.11,−0.01), 0.25 mg/L (95% CI −0.46,−0.04) and 0.39 pg/mL (95% CI −0.75, −0.04), respectively. At baseline, there were differences in cardiovascular risk factors comparing men with low versus high levels of education. No differences in changes in outcomes between these groups of men were found during follow-up. In this study highly educated men generally have lower levels of cardiovascular risk factors, but the effect of PA on such markers in this group do not differ from the effects seen in less educated men.

Combined Before-and-After Workplace Intervention to Promote Healthy Lifestyles in Healthcare Workers (STI-VI Study): Short-Term Assessment

“…Evidence from the literature suggests that programs combining intervention (e.g., on diet and physical activity) with a multidisciplinary approach [ 4 , 19 , 20 , 21 ] obtain the best results in populations at risk, while focusing on a single aspect has a limited effect on long-term health outcomes [ 22 ].…”

Associations of working conditions and chronic low-grade inflammation among employees: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…There were two major clusters of study designs: 16 interventional studies, including 8 RCT ( 65 – 72 ) and 8 NRSI ( 73 – 80 ) as well as 7 observational studies ( 81 – 87 ). The majority of studies (k=13) ( 65 – 68 , 70 , 73 , 75 – 77 , 79 , 80 , 84 , 86 ) came from Europe, 4 from Asia ( 71 , 72 , 83 , 87 ), and 2 from the USA ( 69 , 78 ) (location in 4 studies not specified). In sum, data from N=16 432 (including dropouts, see table S2) participants were included in our review.…”

“…Other or modified job stress models were examined in 2 studies ( 84 , 85 ). Concerning specific features, we categorized 15 studies as investigating psychosocial or mental working conditions/interventions ( 65 , 66 , 69 , 72 – 74 , 76 , 78 , 80 , 82 – 87 ) and 8 studies as assessing physical work-related exposures/interventions ( 67 , 68 , 70 , 71 , 75 , 77 , 79 , 81 ). Furthermore, 3 studies ( 72 , 74 , 81 ) examined predominantly acute effects.…”

“…Concerning inflammatory outcomes, included studies covered all pre-defined categories (table S1). Most frequently surveyed were plasma molecules including CRP ( 67 , 68 , 70 , 71 , 73 , 75 , 77 – 80 , 82 – 84 , 86 , 87 ) and cytokines ( 66 , 67 , 71 , 73 , 74 , 79 – 82 , 84 – 86 ). Inflammation-related processes on cell level, ie, leukocyte counts, were investigated in 3 studies ( 72 , 85 , 87 ).…”

Cardiovascular Health Effects of Shift Work with Long Working Hours and Night Shifts: Study Protocol for a Three-Year Prospective Follow-Up Study on Industrial Workers

“…We consider the first research question as the primary one, and to evaluate statistical power, we focused on the effect of shift work on change in systolic blood pressure from baseline to last follow-up. We fixed the between-subject and within-subject variability to values estimated in a similar longitudinal study [37], i.e., we assumed a between-worker standard deviation of 9.3 and a within-worker standard deviation of 7.8. Furthermore, we assumed an effect size corresponding to a yearly increase of 1.5-2 units in blood pressure in the shift group compared with the reference group of day workers.…”