Physical Behaviours in Brazilian Office Workers Working from Home during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Compared to before the Pandemic: A Compositional Data Analysis

Luiz Augusto Brusaca, Dechristian França Barbieri, Svend Erik Mathiassen, Andreas Holtermann and Ana Beatriz Oliveira
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Luiz Augusto Brusaca: Laboratory of Clinical and Occupational Kinesiology, Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of São Carlos, Washington Luiz Road, km 235, SP310, São Carlos 13565-905, SP, Brazil
Dechristian França Barbieri: Laboratory of Clinical and Occupational Kinesiology, Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of São Carlos, Washington Luiz Road, km 235, SP310, São Carlos 13565-905, SP, Brazil
Svend Erik Mathiassen: Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Andreas Holtermann: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Lersø Parkalle 105, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Ana Beatriz Oliveira: Laboratory of Clinical and Occupational Kinesiology, Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of São Carlos, Washington Luiz Road, km 235, SP310, São Carlos 13565-905, SP, Brazil

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-11

Abstract: Work from home has increased greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and concerns have been raised that this would change physical behaviours. In the present study, 11 Brazilian office workers (five women, six men; mean [SD] age 39.3 [9.6] years) wore two triaxial accelerometers fixed on the upper back and right thigh continuously for five days, including a weekend, before COVID-19 (September 2019), and again while working at home during COVID-19 (July 2020). We determined time used in five behaviours: sedentary, standing, light physical activity (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA), and time-in-bed. Data on these behaviours were processed using Compositional Data Analysis, and behaviours observed pre-COVID19 and during-COVID19 were compared using repeated-measures MANOVA. On workdays during-COVID19, participants spent 667 min sedentary, 176 standing, 74 LPA, 51 MVPA and 472 time-in-bed; corresponding numbers pre-COVID were 689, 180, 81, 72 and 418 min. Tests confirmed that less time was spent in bed pre-COVID19 (log-ratio ?0.12 [95% CI ?0.19; ?0.08]) and more time in MVPA (log-ratio 0.35, [95% CI 0.08; 0.70]). Behaviours during the weekend changed only marginally. While small, this study is the first to report objectively measured physical behaviours during workdays as well as weekends in the same subjects before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: home confinement; social isolation; physical activity; sedentary behaviour; sleep; compositional data analysis; 24-h movement behavior; office workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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