Total and domain-specific sitting time among employees in desk-based work settings in Australia

Abstract

Objective: To describe the total and domain-specific daily sitting time among a sample of Australian office-based employees.

Methods: In April 2010, paper-based surveys were provided to desk-based employees (n=801) in Victoria, Australia. Total daily and domain-specific (work, leisure-time and transport-related) sitting time (minutes/day) were assessed by validated questionnaires. Differences in sitting time were examined across socio-demographic (age, sex, occupational status) and lifestyle characteristics (physical activity levels, body mass index [BMI]) using multiple linear regression analyses.

Results: The median (95% confidence interval [CI]) of total daily sitting time was 540 (531-557) minutes/day. Insufficiently active adults (median=578 minutes/day, [95%CI: 564-602]), younger adults aged 18-29 years (median=561 minutes/day, [95%CI: 540-577]) reported the highest total daily sitting times. Occupational sitting time accounted for almost 60% of total daily sitting time. In multivariate analyses, total daily sitting time was negatively associated with age (unstandardised regression coefficient [B]=-1.58, p<0.001) and overall physical activity (minutes/week) (B=-0.03, p<0.001) and positively associated with BMI (B=1.53, p=0.038).

Conclusions: Desk-based employees reported that more than half of their total daily sitting time was accrued in the work setting.

Implications: Given the high contribution of occupational sitting to total daily sitting time among desk-based employees, interventions should focus on the work setting.

Keywords: employees; epidemiology; physical activity; sitting; workplaces.