Physical activity in the workplace and health risks

A large observational study has shown that sedentary work is associated with an increased risk of total and cardiovascular death, but that this risk can be offset by physical activity during leisure time.

The results of a large observational study analyzing the effect of limiting physical activity during work hours on prognosis, particularly on total and cardiovascular mortality, have been published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The study included 481,688 patients (mean age 39.3 years, 53.2% women), with a mean follow-up time of 12.8 years. The physical activity of patients at work and in free time was evaluated using questionnaires. Activity during non-working hours was ranked in a standardized way according to the duration of moderately intensive and intensive physical activity during the week, as well as using the personal activity intelligence (PAI) metric, which took into account, among other things, the HR achieved during physical activity.

Multivariate analysis showed that sedentary versus active work was associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. No significant differences were found between patients with moderate physical activity at work and those with physically active work in the incidence of all-cause mortality. If persons with sedentary work are moderately physically active in their free time (at least 15-29 min per day), their risk of death is similar to persons with active work but less active in their free time.