Associations between the Objectively Measured Office Environment and Workplace Step Count and Sitting Time

Cross-Sectional Analyses from the Active Buildings Study

Bibliographic Data

ID15466211
AuthorsAbi Fisher (University College London, corresponding author), Marcella Ucci (0000-0001-5618-7247, University College London), Lee Smith (0000-0002-0556-7335, Anglia Ruskin University), Alexia Sawyer (0000-0002-9079-4814, University College London), Richard E Spinney (0000-0001-7458-7981, The University of Sydney), Marina Konstantatou (0000-0003-0593-9407, University of Cambridge), Alexi Marmot (The Gordon Hospital)
Year2018
Volume15
Issue6
Pages1135-1135
Publication date2018-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph15061135
PMID29857575
OpenAlexW2806952272
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited10

Office-based workers spend a large proportion of the day sitting and tend to have low overall activity levels. Despite some evidence that features of the external physical environment are associated with physical activity, little is known about the influence of the spatial layout of the internal environment on movement, and the majority of data use self-report. This study investigated associations between objectively-measured sitting time and activity levels and the spatial layout of office floors in a sample of UK office-based workers. Participants wore activPAL accelerometers for at least three consecutive workdays. Primary outcomes were steps and proportion of sitting time per working hour. Primary exposures were office spatial layout, which was objectively-measured by deriving key spatial variables: 'distance from each workstation to key office destinations', 'distance from participant's workstation to all other workstations', 'visibility of co-workers', and workstation 'closeness'. 131 participants from 10 organisations were included. Fifty-four per cent were female, 81% were white, and the majority had a managerial or professional role (72%) in their organisation. The average proportion of the working hour spent sitting was 0.7 (SD 0.15); participants took on average 444 (SD 210) steps per working hour. Models adjusted for confounders revealed significant negative associations between step count and distance from each workstation to all other office destinations (e.g., B = -4.66, 95% CI: -8.12, -1.12, p p p < 0.001). The magnitude of these associations was small. There were no associations between spatial variables and sitting time per work hour. Contrary to our hypothesis, the further participants were from office destinations the less they walked, suggesting that changing the relative distance between workstations and other destinations on the same floor may not be the most fruitful target for promoting walking and reducing sitting in the workplace. However, reported effect sizes were very small and based on cross-sectional analyses. The approaches developed in this study could be applied to other office buildings to establish whether a specific office typology may yield more promising results

Closeness · Cross-sectional study · Geography · Office workers · Operations management · Physical therapy · Sitting · Visibility · Engineering · Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders · Mathematics · Medicine · Psychology · Urban Green Space and Health · Urban Transport and Accessibility

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