Research Study Abstract

Is high aerobic workload at work associated with leisure time physical activity and sedentary behaviour among blue-collar workers? A compositional data analysis based on accelerometer data

  • Published on June 6, 2019

Objective
This study aimed to investigate the hypothesized negative association between duration of work time spent at a high relative aerobic workload and leisure time movement behaviours among blue-collar workers.

Methods
This was a cross-sectional study based on heart rate and accelerometer data from 803 blue-collar workers (447 men and 356 women). Relative aerobic workload was measured as percentage of heart rate reserve during work (%HRR). Leisure time movement behaviours were expressed in terms of leisure time spent in sedentary and active behaviours in uninterrupted bouts (i.e. <10 min, ≥10–30 min and >30 min). Compositional regression and isotemporal substitution models were used to assess the association between the predominance of work time spent at ≥40%HRR and leisure time spent in sedentary and active bouts. All analyses were stratified by sex.

Results
For men, there was no statistically significant association between the predominance of work time spent at ≥40%HRR and leisure time movement behaviours. Among women, the predominance of ≥40%HRR at work was negatively associated with relative leisure time spent in ≥10 min bouts of active behaviour ( = -0.21, p = 0.02) and a theoretical 15 min reallocation of work time from <40%HRR to ≥40%HRR was estimated to decrease active behaviour by 6 min during leisure time.

Conclusion
Our result highlights the need for considering work-related barriers for an active leisure time in high-risk populations. Longitudinal studies are warranted to disentangle the relationship between physically demanding work characteristics and leisure time movement behaviours in such populations.

Author(s)

  • Charlotte Lund Rasmussen 1,2
  • Javier Palarea-Albaladejo 3
  • Mette Korshøj 1
  • Nidhi Gupta 1
  • Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen 1,2
  • Andreas Holtermann 1,4
  • Marie Birk Jørgensen 5

Institution(s)

  • 1

    National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 2

    Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 3

    Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
  • 4

    Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense Denmark
  • 5

    Department of Forensic Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Journal

PLOS One

Download Abstract

journal.pone.0217024

Categories

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