Bidirectional associations between emergency nurses' occupational and leisure physical activity: An observational study

Sitting, Standing, and Physical Activity in Australian Passenger Rail Drivers: On the Right Track for Better Health?

BACKGROUND

Poor health in passenger rail drivers, resulting from perceived highly sedentary work and leisure time, has implications for public safety. To date, no studies have described the physical behaviors of passenger rail drivers. This study aimed to characterize the physical behaviors of passenger rail drivers by investigating the volume, pattern, variation, and composition of behaviors at and outside of work.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 31 rail drivers (77% male, median age 51.0 [12.5] y) in South Australia wore an activity monitor on their right thigh for 8 days and completed a work logbook. Physical behaviors (sitting, standing, light-intensity physical activity, moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity [MVPA], and steps) were recorded for workdays and nonworkdays, and work and nonwork time on workdays. The volume, bouts, between-participants variation, and 3-way composition were compared across the 4 time periods.

RESULTS

Drivers sat for 10.6 (1.5) hours, did 76.3 (38.8) minutes of MVPA, and took 9727.3 (4088.4) steps daily. At work, drivers were sitting 369.3 (41.8) minutes (187.1 [54.2] min in prolonged bouts) and doing MVPA 31.7 (10.0) minutes. Between-participants variation in sitting time during work (11%) was lower than both nonwork on a workday (19%) and on a nonworkday (24%; P < .001). Compositions at work differed from nonwork on workdays (F = 27.7, P < .001), as did compositions on workdays compared with nonworkdays (F = 6.8, P = .002).

CONCLUSIONS

Passenger rail drivers were highly sedentary, but also surprisingly active. At work, drivers were more sedentary and had lower variation in behaviors, suggesting work constraints play an important role. Therefore, work may be the most appropriate domain to intervene for promoting healthy physical behavior profiles among these passenger rail drivers.

Enhancing feedback by health coaching: the effectiveness of mixed methods approach to long-term physical activity changes in nurses. An intervention study

BACKGROUND

Although knowledge of the barriers and motivators to physical activity participation among nurses is increasing, the factors influencing motivation methods' effectiveness are not completely defined. This study aimed to identify the methods that support increasing the level of daily physical activity and the factors that influence the effectiveness of motivation methods among nurses.

METHODS

This study was based on an intervention study protocol. All registered nurses in clinical settings were invited to participate in the study. The study involved 71 professionally active nurses. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and employment data. The level of physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and the daily number of steps was assessed using a pedometer. Body composition was measured using a bioimpedance method, and the 5-year risk of cardiovascular events was assessed using the Harvard Score. The intervention included self-monitoring daily steps using a pedometer and completing a diary daily for one month. Additionally, a few-minute speech was sent to each participant via email on the intervention's 7th, 14th, and 21st days.

RESULTS

The analysis revealed a higher value of physical activity recorded in the follow-up compared to the initial and final measurement in the Recreation domain [Met] (p < 0.001) and a higher value of daily steps in the follow-up compared to the final measurement (p = 0.005). Participants with a higher Harvard Score were more likely to increase their daily number of steps (OR = 6.025; 95% CI = 1.70-21.41), and nurses working in hospital wards were less likely to do so (OR = 0.002; 95% CI = 0.00-0.41).

CONCLUSIONS

Recommendations for physical activity in the nursing population should focus on increasing leisure time physical activity and regular risk assessment of cardiovascular events. A mixed methods approach, such as feedback enhanced by health coaching, effectively achieves long-term physical activity changes in nurses.

Shift work and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease incidence among Chinese rail workers: a 4-year longitudinal cohort study

PURPOSE

Occupational harmful factors, such as shift work, are attracting increasing attention as a potential cause of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this study, we aimed to identify the association between shift work and NAFLD incidence in Chinese rail population.

METHODS

A cohort study was conducted among 14,112 rail workers for 4-year follow-up. Shift work frequency and other potential variables were recorded by questionnaires, including demographic, lifestyle, and occupation information. Besides, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase were measured by anthropometric measurement and blood test. Diagnosis of new NAFLD case was based on abdominal ultrasonography. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to determine whether shift work has effect on occurrence of NAFLD.

RESULTS

The incidence of NAFLD was 30.43% in total subjects. After adjustment for possible confounders, the RRs of NAFLD were 1.069 (95% CI 0.998-1.146) and 1.179 (95% CI 1.059-1.312) in occasionally shift work group and frequently shift work group respectively, compared to the seldom shift work group. In stratified analyses, the RRs of NAFLD incidence linked to shift work exposure seems increase among female and elder. The results of three sensitivity analyses were similar with main analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

This research provided further evidence of positive harmful effect of shift work on NAFLD incidence in Chinese rail workers, particularly in frequently shift work population. The risk estimate of shift work on NAFLD was higher in female and elder.

The Relationship between Sociodemographic, Professional, and Incentive Factors and Self-Reported Level of Physical Activity in the Nurse Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Research indicates that while nurses are aware of the benefits of physical activity (PA), their adherence to PA is low. The results of workplace interventions that increase PA are inconsistent. The study aim was identification the sociodemographic, professional, and incentive factors influencing nurses’ PA and investigation its relationship with the level of PA that they report. This study was based on observational cross-sectional research conducted among professionally active nurses working in a clinical setting (n = 350). The self-reported questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and employment data and motivators and barriers of participating in PA. The level of PA was assessed using International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The analysis revealed significant differences in the Total Physical Activity Score (TPAS) depending on the variables related to professional activity (working in a management position: p = 0.015; workplace: p = 0.01; shift type: p ≤ 0.002). Cluster analysis revealed that the most important statement in the group division about motivation was fear of the pain occurring after exercise. Nurses who were more motivated to be active showed a higher level of leisure-time PA than less motivated nurses. The recommendation of PA in the nursing population should be focused on increasing the leisure time PA, ensuring the appropriate time to recovery, and compliance with the principles of work ergonomics to prevent musculoskeletal disorders.

Recent Trends in Sedentary Time: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper systematically reviews and synthesizes the relevant literature on sedentary time research. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to evaluate the publications from 2010 to 2020 in the Web of Science (WoS) core collection database. Derwent Data Analyzer software was used for the cleaning, mining, and visualization of the data. Historical trends of the topics, main contributors, leading countries, leading institutions, leading research areas, and journals were explored. A total of 3020 publications were studied. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia are the three most productive countries. The Australian institution Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute led the list of productive institutions, and Ekelund U published the most papers. Sedentary time raised the concerns of scholars from 106 research areas, and public health was the dominant field. Physical activity, accelerometer, children, and obesity were the most frequently used keywords. The findings suggest that sedentary time is rapidly emerging as a global issue that has detrimental effects on public health. The hotspots shifted in the past 10 years, and COVID-19 was the most popular topic of sedentary time research.