Underlying Factors Explaining Physical Behaviors among Office Workers—An Exploratory Analysis

Viktoria Wahlström, David Olsson, Fredrik Öhberg, Tommy Olsson and Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm
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Viktoria Wahlström: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
David Olsson: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Fredrik Öhberg: Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Tommy Olsson: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: Studies using technical measurements of physical behavior show wide interindividual variations. This study aimed to explore underlying factors related to sitting, standing and walking among office workers. Cross-sectional data for background characteristics, work-related variables, and device-based measures for sitting, standing and walking were collected among office workers in either a cell office or a flex office with activity-based work. Data were analyzed by Factor Analysis of Mixed Data (FAMD) and multiple robust linear regression. The FAMD resulted in the combination of underlying factors describing six character types. The (1) harmonic and healthy, (2) disabled with poor health, (3) manager that spend a lot of time in meetings and has very high workload, (4) engaged with high workload, (5) employee with creative and computer intense work, with high workload and, (6) employee with high BMI with creative and collaborative work. Regression analysis showed that the character type that was “engaged with high workload” sat more and stood less, while the character type with ”high BMI and with creative and collaborative work” sat less. The results suggest that physical behavior among office workers is influenced by a complex combination of factors, which should be taken into account in the evaluation of future studies of larger cohorts.

Keywords: technical measurements; occupational health; office design; sedentary behavior; variance; workplace (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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