Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Occupational Groups—Trends over 20 Years and Future Forecasts

Daniel Väisänen, Lena. V. Kallings, Gunnar Andersson, Peter Wallin, Erik Hemmingsson and Elin Ekblom-Bak
Additional contact information
Daniel Väisänen: Department of Physical Activity and Health, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, 10316 Stockholm, Sweden
Lena. V. Kallings: Department of Physical Activity and Health, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, 10316 Stockholm, Sweden
Gunnar Andersson: Health Profile Institute, 18211 Danderyd, Sweden
Peter Wallin: Health Profile Institute, 18211 Danderyd, Sweden
Erik Hemmingsson: Department of Physical Activity and Health, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, 10316 Stockholm, Sweden
Elin Ekblom-Bak: Department of Physical Activity and Health, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, 10316 Stockholm, Sweden

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-16

Abstract: Background: Reports have indicated a negative trend in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in the general population. However, trends in relation to different occupational groups are missing. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the trends in CRF during the last 20 years, and to provide a prognosis of future trends in CRF, in different occupational groups of Swedish workers. Methods: Data from 516,122 health profile assessments performed between 2001 to 2020 were included. CRF was assessed as maximal oxygen consumption and was estimated from a submaximal cycling test. Analyses include CRF as a weighted average, standardized proportions with low CRF (<32 mL/min/kg), adjusted annual change in CRF, and forecasting of future trends in CRF. Results: There was a decrease in CRF over the study period, with the largest decrease in both absolute and relative CRF seen for individuals working in administrative and customer service (?10.1% and ?9.4%) and mechanical manufacturing (?6.5% and ?7.8%) occupations. The greatest annual decrease was seen in transport occupations (?1.62 mL/min/kg, 95% CI ?0.190 to ?0.134). Men and younger individuals had in generally a more pronounced decrease in CRF. The proportion with a low CRF increased, with the greatest increase noted for blue-collar and low-skilled occupations (range: +19% to +27% relative change). The forecast analyses predicted a continuing downward trend of CRF. Conclusion: CRF has declined in most occupational groups in Sweden over the last two decades, with a more pronounced decline in blue-collar and low-skilled occupational groups.

Keywords: white-collar; blue-collar; VO 2 max; fitness; occupational groups; cardiorespiratory fitness; trends; forecast; prediction (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)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8437/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8437/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:16:p:8437-:d:611673

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().