How many days of indoor positioning system data are required to characterise typical movement behaviours of office workers?

Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) appear to offer great potential to study the movement and interaction of people and their working environment, including office workplaces. But little is known about appropriate durations for data collection. In this study, location observations collected from 24 office workers on a 1220 m2 office floor over a 3-month period, were analysed to determine how many days are required to estimate their typical movement and spatial behaviours. The analysis showed that up to 8 days of data was sufficient to characterise participants' typical daily movement behaviours and 10 days were required to estimate their typical spatial mobility. However, the results also indicate that 5 weeks of data collection are required to gather the necessary 10 days of data from each participant. These findings will help researchers and workplace professionals to understand the capabilities and requirements of IPS when considering their use in indoor work environments.

Stop motion: using high resolution spatiotemporal data to estimate and locate stationary and movement behaviour in an office workplace.

Prolonged periods of stationary behaviour, a common occurrence in many office workplaces, are linked with a range of physical disorders. Investigating the physical context of this behaviour may be a key to developing effective interventions. This study aimed to estimate and locate the stationary and movement behaviours of office workers (n = 10) by segmenting spatiotemporal data collected over 5 days in an office work-based setting. The segmentation method achieved a balanced accuracy ≥85.5% for observation classification and ≥90% for bout classification when compared to reference data. The results show the workers spent the majority of their time stationary (Mean = 86.4%) and had on average, 28.4 stationary and 25.9 moving bouts per hour. While these findings accord with other studies, the segmented data was also visualised, revealing that the workers were stationary for periods ≥5 min at multiple locations and these locations changed across time. Practitioner Summary: This study applied a data segmentation method to classify stationary and moving behaviours from spatiotemporal data collected in an office workplace. The segmented data revealed not only what behaviours occurred but also their location, duration, and time. Segmenting spatiotemporal data may add valuable physical context to aid workplace research.

Activity space, office space: Measuring the spatial movement of office workers.

A key to the development of more effective interventions to promote movement and reduce physical inactivity in office workplaces may be to measure and locate individual's spatial movement. Using an activity space estimation method, high resolution location data collected from 15 office workers over 12 days were used to estimate and analyse the location and extent of their daily spatial movement whilst in an office work-based setting. The results indicated that the method, kernel density estimation, combined with location data offers significant opportunities to not only measure and compare spatial movement behaviours but also simultaneously identify the locations where the behaviours occur. Combined with other data streams, this method will allow researchers to further investigate the influence of different environmental characteristics on these behaviours, potentially leading the development of more effective, longer lasting interventions to promote movement and reduce stationary behaviour, ultimately improving the health of office workers.

Sharing Government Health Data With the Private Sector: Community Attitudes Survey.

BACKGROUND: The use of government health data for secondary purposes, such as monitoring the quality of hospital services, researching the health needs of populations, and testing how well new treatments work, is increasing. This increase in the secondary uses of health data has led to increased interest in what the public thinks about data sharing, in particular, the possibilities of sharing with the private sector for research and development. Although international evidence demonstrates broad public support for the secondary use of health data, this support does not extend to sharing health data with the private sector. If governments intend to share health data with the private sector, knowing what the public thinks will be important. This paper reports a national survey to explore public attitudes in Australia toward sharing health data with private companies for research on and development of therapeutic drugs and medical devices. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore public attitudes in Australia toward sharing government health data with the private sector. METHODS: A web-based survey tool was developed to assess attitudes about sharing government health data with the private sector. A market research company was employed to administer the web-based survey in June 2019. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 2537 individuals residing in Australia. Between 51.8% and 57.98% of all participants were willing to share their data, with slightly fewer in favor of sharing to improve health services (51.99%) and a slightly higher proportion in favor of sharing for research and development (57.98%). There was a preference for opt-in consent (53.44%) and broad support for placing conditions on sharing health information with private companies (62% to 91.99%). Wide variability was also observed in participants' views about the extent to which the private sector could be trusted and how well they would behave if entrusted with people's health information. In their qualitative responses, the participants noted concerns about private sector corporate interests, corruption, and profit making and expressed doubt about the Australian government's capacity to manage data sharing safely. The percentages presented are adjusted against the Australian population. CONCLUSIONS: This nationally representative survey provides preliminary evidence that Australians are uncertain about sharing their health data with the private sector. Although just over half of all the respondents supported sharing health data with the private sector, there was also strong support for strict conditions on sharing data and for opt-in consent and significant concerns about how well the private sector would manage government health data. Addressing public concern about sharing government health data with the private sector will require more and better engagement to build community understanding about how agencies can collect, share, protect, and use their personal data.

Reporting physical activity in minutes not bouts: findings from a survey in Australia.

OBJECTIVE: Physical activity has been commonly measured as time spent in bouts of at least 10 minutes, however, each minute of physical activity achieved in a day is now regarded as beneficial. This study aims to compare differences in total time spent walking in a week to time spent walking in 10-minute bouts over the same seven-day period. METHODS: Two self-reported measures of time spent walking were compared: one using time-constrained bouts and the other using total minutes. The first measure comes from the validated Active Australia Survey and reports walking in bouts of 10min or more, the second measure reports total estimated time spent walking. RESULTS: Data from 4,582 university participants in a census-styled survey were analysed. When comparing the reported minutes of walking in either 10-minute bouts or total minutes, more walking occurs in short bursts with a difference of 117min/week (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This result shows more walking is reported across a week in short bursts of less than 10 minutes. Implications for public health: To monitor trends and evaluate physical activity interventions, reliable and valid measures of physical activity are necessary. Our result questions the usefulness of reporting bouted-walking as a measure which accurately captures population behaviour.

Movement at work: A comparison of real time location system, accelerometer and observational data from an office work environment.

Office workers can spend significant periods of time being stationary whilst at work, with potentially serious health consequences. The development of effective health interventions could be aided by a greater understanding of the location and environmental context in which this stationary behaviour occurs. Real time location systems (RTLS) potentially offer the opportunity to gather this much needed information, but they have not been extensively trialled in office workplaces, nor rigorously compared against more familiar devices such as accelerometers. The aim of this paper was to determine whether an RTLS can measure and spatially locate the non-stationary and stationary behaviours of adults working in an office work environment. Data collected from a series of comparison studies undertaken in a commercial office building suggests that RTLS can measure the velocity at which people are moving and locate them, when stationary, with an accuracy of 0.668 m (SD 0.389). This opens up significant opportunities to further understand how people move within buildings, the indoor physical environmental influences on that movement, and the development of effective interventions to help people to move more whilst at work.

Does Active Design Influence Activity, Sitting, Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace? A Systematic Review.

Active design is an emerging concept to incorporate physical activity into daily life through thoughtful design, and is often implemented in new building designs. It is, however, not known what evidence base there is to support the claims. Through this systematic review, the current evidence for active design was investigated. Seven databases were searched. A range of search terms relating to active design, physical activity, sitting, performance and wellbeing were used. After title and abstract screening of 1174 papers and full-text screening, 17 were selected for inclusion. The papers provided promising evidence of active design aiding a reduction in sitting and increase in standing time. Limited evidence was found for physical activity; a few studies reported an increase in step counts. Musculoskeletal effects were investigated in few studies, but there is some evidence of benefits to lower back pain. There was consistent evidence for better light and air quality, but no evidence for other features of the workplace environment. No conclusive evidence was found on associations between active design features and work performance. There is hence some evidence to support the benefit of active design on physical health; however, the dearth and heterogeneity of the study designs, measures and findings warrant further research.

Ecological study of playground space and physical activity among primary school children.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between school playground size and total physical activity (PA), fitness and fundamental movement skills (FMS) of primary school students. DESIGN: Cross-sectional ecological analysis. SETTING: 43 primary schools in New South Wales, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Data were from 5238 students, aged 5 to 12 years, participating in the Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey. OUTCOME MEASURES: Self (for age ≥11 years) and parent (for age <11 years) report of PA (meeting PA recommendations and number of days meeting recommendations), objectively measured FMS and cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness. RESULTS: Associations between playground space and measures of PA and fitness were mostly non-linear and moderated by loose equipment. Students in schools with no loose equipment showed a weak association between space and meeting PA recommendations (self-report). In schools with equipment, students' predicted probability of meeting PA recommendations increased sharply between 15 m2 and 25 m2 per student from 0.04 (95% CI: 0.01 to 0.08) to 0.30 (95% CI: 0.14 to 0.46), but at 30 m2 returned to levels comparable to students in schools with no equipment (0.18, 95% CI: 0.07 to 0.28). For cardiorespiratory fitness, in schools with no loose equipment, probabilities for being in the healthy cardiovascular fitness zone varied between 0.66 and 0.77, showing no consistent trend. Students in schools with loose equipment had a predicted probability of being in the healthy fitness zone of 0.56 (95% CI: 0.41 to 0.71) at 15 m2 per student, which rose to 0.75 (95% CI: 0.63 to 0.86) at 20 m2 per student. There was no relationship between space and FMS. CONCLUSIONS: School space guidelines need to incorporate sufficient playground space for students. Our study provides evidence supporting better PA outcomes with increasing space up to 25 m2 per student, and access to loose equipment, however further research is required to determine precise thresholds for minimum space. Intersectoral planning and cooperation is required to meet the needs of growing school populations.

Impact and process evaluation of a co-designed 'Move More, Sit Less' intervention in a public sector workplace.

BACKGROUND: High levels of sitting are associated with increased risk of adverse health outcomes, including chronic disease. Extensive sitting at work is common, hence organisations should provide options to employees to reduce prolonged sitting. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and acceptability of a co-designed intervention to increase standing and reduce sitting in a public-sector office. METHODS: Forty-six adults participated in the quasi-experimental study (30 intervention; 16 control). The intervention involved providing sit-stand desks, prompts, workshops, and information emails to assist behavior change. Participants wore a thigh-mounted Actigraph GT3X+ for five working days and responded to an online questionnaire at baseline (BL), 6 (T1) and 13 weeks (T2) post intervention. RESULTS: Inclinometer-measured proportion of time standing increased in the intervention group from 14% (baseline) to 28% (T1) and 27% (T2) (67 minutes more standing over an 8-hour workday). Intervention participants reduced sitting time from 79% (BL) to 63% (T1 and T2), (80 minutes less sitting over an 8-hour workday). The control group showed no changes. The program was highly recommended (94%), and perceived to support behavior change (81%). CONCLUSIONS: This Move More, Sit Less intervention appears to be efficacious and acceptable. Future interventions should be co-designed to ensure culturally appropriate components and higher acceptability.

Beyond Posters: Stairtember-Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Intervention to Promote Stair Climbing.

OBJECTIVE: Although stair climbing could contribute to daily physical activity goals, and there is potential for broad population reach, most stair climbing interventions are single-component and have limited effect. METHODS: In a longitudinal quasiexperimental study, a 1-month multicomponent intervention, followed by 6 months with point-of-choice prompts, was evaluated in a six-story university building. All floors climbed and lifts ascended were measured by infrared people counters. Regular building occupants were invited to participate in the Stairtember Challenge intervention component. RESULTS: During the intervention, stair climbing increased by 15%. Stair to lift ratios increased from 0.46 to 0.56 (odds ratio 1.22; 95% confidence interval 1.18 to 1.27). CONCLUSIONS: The multicomponent stair climbing intervention achieved a moderate increase in average daily stair climbing and stair to lift ratio. As these effects are larger than previously found for traditional signage-based interventions, future interventions should go beyond posters for larger effects on population health.

Longer, More Active Commute, but Still not Very Active: Five-Year Physical Activity and Travel Behavior Change in a University Population.

Active travel can support the achievement of recommended levels of physical activity. Monitoring travel behavior of university students and staff provides a useful insight into patterns of regional travel and population level changes in physical activity. This study sought to evaluate current travel and physical activity behaviors in a university population and to determine whether these changed over time. An online survey of travel behavior and physical activity was conducted at the University of Sydney, Australia. The survey was actively promoted for three weeks prior to the release of the survey among staff and students, which asked about travel behavior on a specific day in September 2017. The survey questions were the same as those used in a similar online survey conducted across the University in 2012. In total, 4359 People completed the survey, representing 10.8% of staff and 4.1% of students. Approximately two thirds of survey respondents were students, in both the 2012 and 2017 surveys. Compared with 2012, there was an increase in active travel to the University in 2017 from increased walking and train travel. Compared to 2012, in 2017 there was an increase in average minutes walked by about nine minutes, and less time spent sitting. Trip lengths increased, with 68% of trips taking longer than 30 min in 2017. The amount of time spent in low-moderate levels physical activity increased between 2012 and 2017, potentially related to active travel behavior. Citywide changes towards a system-wide transport fare structure was the biggest change in the transport environment between the two surveys and may have contributed to increased train travel.

"In Initiative Overload": Australian Perspectives on Promoting Physical Activity in the Workplace from Diverse Industries.

Introduction: With two thirds of adults in paid employment and one third physically inactive, workplaces are an important setting for promoting more physical activity. We explored the attitudes and practices of employees and managers from different industries towards sitting and moving at work, to inform the development of acceptable solutions for encouraging businesses to adopt activity-promoting workplaces. Method: We conducted focus groups with employees and structured interviews with upper/middle managers from 12 organisations in a range of industries (e.g., education, healthcare, manufacturing, construction, insurance, mining). Topics focused on past and current workplace health and wellness initiatives, workplace culture and environment related to physical activity, responsibility for employee physical activity patterns at work, and enablers of/barriers to activity promoting workplaces. Results: Physical activity was not an explicit priority in existing occupational health and wellness initiatives. Instead, there was a strong focus on education about preventing and managing injuries, such as manual handling among non-office workers and desk-based ergonomics for office workers. Physical activity was viewed as a strategy for maintaining work ability and preventing injury, particularly in blue-collar staff, rather than for chronic disease prevention. Managers noted structural/organisational barriers/enablers to promoting physical activity at work (e.g., regulations, costs, competing concerns), while employees tended to focus on individual constraints such as time and geographic location. The issues of "initiative overload" and making physical activity a part of "business as usual" emerged as strong themes from employees and managers. Conclusions: While there is stakeholder enthusiasm for creating activity-promoting workplaces, multi-level support is needed to make physical activity an integral part of day-to-day business. The synergism between occupational health and safety priorities could be leveraged to facilitate the creation of activity-promoting workplaces.

Recent trends in population levels and correlates of occupational and leisure sitting time in full-time employed Australian adults.

This study aimed to explore the trend in population levels, as well as the correlates, of occupational and leisure sitting time in full-time employed Australian adults between 2007 and 2015. We used data from the 2007/08, 2011/12 and 2014/15 Australian Health Surveys, in which nationally representative samples of the Australian population were interviewed. Full-time (≥35 hours/week) employed respondents reported sitting time at work and during leisure on a usual workday. Trends over time and associations between socio-demographic and health-related characteristics and sitting time were analysed in the combined dataset using multivariable logistic regression models. Over 21,000 observations were included in the analyses. Across the three surveys, approximately 51% of the respondents reported ≥4 hours/workday occupational sitting time, 40% reported ≥4 hours/workday leisure sitting time, and 55% reported ≥7 hours/workday combined occupational and leisure sitting time. There were no clear trends over time. All potential correlates were associated with occupational sitting time and all but educational level were associated with leisure sitting time. The directions of the associations with gender, age and leisure-time physical activity were reversed for occupational sitting time and leisure sitting time. These findings show that the average levels of occupational and leisure sitting time on workdays were high but stable over the past decade. The observed differences in correlates of occupational and leisure sitting time demonstrate the need to assess and address sedentary behaviour domains separately in research and policy.

Sydney Playground Project: A Cluster-Randomized Trial to Increase Physical Activity, Play, and Social Skills.

BACKGROUND: We assessed the effectiveness of a simple intervention for increasing children's physical activity, play, perceived competence/social acceptance, and social skills. METHODS: A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted, in which schools were the clusters. Twelve Sydney (Australia) primary schools were randomly allocated to intervention or control conditions, with 226 children (5-7 years old) selected randomly to participate. Data were collected at baseline and after 13 weeks. The intervention consisted of introducing recycled materials without an obvious play purpose into school playgrounds and a risk-reframing workshop for parents and teachers. RESULTS: Children from the intervention schools increased physical activity and reduced sedentary time while control schools decreased physical activity and increased sedentary time. The intervention yielded increases in total accelerometer counts (ß = 9350 counts, 95% CI 3490-1522, p = .002), minutes of moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (ß = 1.8 min, 95% CI 0.52-3.12, p = .006), and reductions in sedentary time (ß = -2.1 min, 95% CI -3.77-(-0.51), p = .01). Although the changes in time spent in play and nonplay were not statistically different (p = .08) the effect size (d = .27) indicates clinical significance. CONCLUSIONS: This intervention was effective for increasing MVPA during recess and demonstrated capacity to improve play opportunities in school playgrounds.

Trends in prevalence of leisure time physical activity and inactivity: results from Australian National Health Surveys 1989 to 2011.

OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in leisure time physical activity and inactivity in Australians aged 15 years or older from 1989 to 2011. METHOD: We used data from six Australian National Health Surveys conducted from 1989/90 to 2011/12 in which physical activity was assessed using comparable questions. Analyses examined trends in the prevalence of sufficient physical activity (≥150 minutes/week moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) and of inactivity (<30 minutes/week moderate-to-vigorous physical activity). RESULTS: The proportion of sufficiently active adults was 39.2% in 1989 and 40.7% in 2011 with an overall declining trend of 0.2% per year (p=0.012). The prevalence of inactivity was 38.7% in 1989 and 37.3% in 2011; the overall time trend by year was stable (OR=0.999, p=0.242). In women, sufficient physical activity decreased by 0.3% per year from 35.5% in 1989 (p=0.025); inactivity increased from 39.5% by 0.3% per year (p=0.004). In men, sufficient physical activity prevalence was 43.1% in 1989 with a steady trend; inactivity decreased from 37.9% by 0.5% per year (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of sufficient physical activity remains low and inactivity high. Women appear to be a key target group for intervention. Public health efforts have been ineffective over two decades for improving physical activity among Australian adults. Implications for public health: This research supports calls for a national physical activity action plan given the multitude of benefits from sufficient physical activity. Maintenance of consistent physical activity questions in future National Health Surveys will facilitate long term tracking of physical activity levels in the Australian population.

Reducing Office Workers' Sitting Time at Work Using Sit-Stand Protocols: Results From a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of different sit-stand protocols on work-time sitting and physical activity (PA) of office workers. METHODS: Participants (n = 26, 77% women, mean age 42) were randomly allocated to usual sitting (control) or one of three sit-stand protocols (intervention) facilitated by height-adjustable workstations for a 4-week period between June and August 2015. Sitting, standing, and stepping time were assessed by inclinometry (activPAL); leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) by self-report. One-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and post-hoc (Bonferroni) tests explored between-group differences. RESULTS: Compared with baseline, intervention groups reduced work sitting time by 113 minutes/8-hour workday (95% confidence interval [CI] [-147,-79]) and increased work standing time by 96 minutes/8-hour workday (95% CI [67,125]) without significantly impacting LTPA/sleep time. CONCLUSIONS: Sit-stand protocols facilitated by height-adjustable workstations appear to reduce office workers' sitting time without significant adverse effects on LTPA.

Are motivational signs to increase stair use a thing of the past? A multi-building study.

Issue addressed Only half of Australia's adult population is sufficiently physical active. One method thought to increase incidental physical activity at work is the use of stair-promoting interventions. Stairs are readily available and stair climbing is considered vigorous physical activity. Motivational signs have been extensively and effectively trialled to increase stair use, but are they suitable for contemporary populations? Methods Participants were occupants of three selected University of Sydney buildings using the elevators or stairs. Infrared people counters were installed to monitor stair and elevator use for 24 h/day during two baseline weeks, followed by two intervention weeks, where motivational and directional signs were placed at points of choice. Results At baseline there was a large between-building variation in the change in stair to elevator proportion, where we observed a small increase in two buildings (81-84%, odds ratio (OR): 1.16 (1.09, 1.23), and 26-27%, OR: 1.09 (1.03, 1.15)), and a decrease (30-25%, OR: 0.75 (0.72, 0.77) in the third building. Conclusions Differences in stair use among buildings could be due to building design and function. Motivational and directional signs to promote stair use showed small or nil effects. The future of interventions promoting stair use in occupational settings may need more interactive or personalised intervention methods. So what? The implications of this study are that posters to promote stair use might be a thing of the past and this should be considered in future workplace health promotion efforts to increase physical activity. More novel and interactive methods using new media are recommended.

Is Active Design changing the workplace? - A natural pre-post experiment looking at health behaviour and workplace perceptions.

BACKGROUND: Active Design is a relatively new concept and evaluation on its effects on healthy behaviour is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To investigate Active Design influence on workplace physical activity, sedentary behaviour, musculoskeletal complaints, and perceptions of the workplace and productivity. METHODS: Participants (n = 118 adults) moving from 14 workplaces into a new building completed an online questionnaire pre- and post-move. The questions related to health behaviours (physical activity, sitting time and sleep); musculoskeletal issues; perceptions of the office environment; productivity; and engagement. RESULTS: After the move, 68% of participants were located in an open plan building (21% before the move). In the new workplace participants tended to sit less during their work time (72% - 66%; p < 0.05) and stand more (15% - 19%; p < 0.05) while walking remained unchanged. Participants reported less lower-back pain. The new work environment was perceived as more motivating and providing better light, air quality and temperature, but less storage space. Participants reported looking forward to going to work more than before. No difference was reported in productivity related measures. CONCLUSIONS: Moving to a new Active Design building can have some physical health-promoting effects on occupants. Satisfaction with environmental characteristics tended to improve in the new building though perceptions of productivity measures were variable.

Capacity building in physical activity and non-communicable disease prevention: a low-cost online training course can reach isolated practitioners.

Physical inactivity is the fourth most important risk factor contributing to global non-communicable disease (NCD) deaths, occurring in high-, middle- and low-income countries. Building capacity in NCD prevention is a daunting task, and toward this end, an introductory open online course about physical activity (PA), exercise, and NCD prevention was developed. This was led by academics from the University of Sydney and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity. The course was designed to address the needs of participants from areas where geography and economy would often prevent them from participating in NCD training programs.Around 120 participants from four continents signed up for the six-week online course, with the greatest numbers from the host country (Australia) followed by participants from Pacific Island nations and from the Middle East. The course consisted of video lectures, quizzes, and online discussions facilitated by experts.More than a third of the participants fully completed the course, which received very positive participant evaluations. This also included completion of relevant quiz questions on each section of the PA course, and averaged over 70% correct responses.This successful online course has the potential to increase knowledge and skills about PA and prevention, as part of building global capacity in NCD prevention at low cost, and importantly within easy reach of potentially isolated practitioners.