¹Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Berlin, Germany
²Robert Bosch GmbH, Abstatt/Gerlingen, Germany

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Introduction: Sedentary behaviour (SB) was identified to be a health risk and to be associated with disease (e.g., type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, premature mortality). Cross sectional studies support that occupational work-related self-reported SB may contribute to the risk for musculoskeletal disorders, like neck pain and low back pain. Thus, we aimed to objectively describe the time spent sedentary, standing, and physically active among office workers of a large company in Germany, working from home (WFH) or at the office (WAO) and investigate if these behaviours differ between the workplace settings.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study at one company office site with around 6000 employees. We measured SB and physical activity using the activPAL3 accelerometer on several days WFH and WAO. The time-use data were examined using compositional data analysis (CoDA) and transformed into two isometric log ratios (ILR). ILR1 corresponded to the time spent sedentary relative to time spent standing and physically active. ILR2 corresponded to the time spent standing relative to time spent physically active. Mixed model linear regression with repeated measures was performed to estimate a) means and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of time spent sedentary, standing, physically active, and b) the CoDA variables (ILR1 and ILR2). Main models for ILR1 and ILR2 were adjusted for sex, age, profession and measurement phase (Jul–Nov 2021).

Results: The sample of office workers comprised n=102 employees (women: n=27, mean age: 38.9 years). During work time the office workers averaged 378 minutes (95% CI 467–493) sedentary, 78 minutes (95% CI 64–93) standing, and 18 minutes (95% CI 16–21) physically active when WFH. They averaged 342 minutes (95% CI 323–361) sedentary, 116 minutes (95% CI 101–131) standing, and 31 minutes (95% CI 29–34) physically active when WAO. Results of the CoDA variables showed that sedentary time relative to non-sedentary time (ILR1) and standing time relative to time physically active (ILR2) increased when WFH during work hours.

Discussion: During work hours sedentary time was predominant at both workplaces and seemed to increase when WFH. According to the CoDA, employees spent more time standing relative to time spent physically active when WFH.

Conclusion: The reduction of SB should be promoted by employers in both workplaces, for example by providing information on healthy behaviour with regard to sitting and movement habits.