There are varying levels of physical activity between different occupations, and these levels for the same job can differ among global populations. The purpose of this review was to identify and compare physical activity among occupations and across countries, grouped as continents. A systematic review was conducted adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Five databases were searched, and 10,923 articles were systematically reviewed. Twelve studies were included based on reported measurements of physical activity in metabolic equivalents (METs) using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Preliminary results show that healthcare practitioners report the highest levels of physical activity. It was found that occupations in Europe reported the greatest mean MET of all continents included in this study. These results can be used to build a database of physical activity levels of different work populations and regions for researchers and practitioners to use for benchmarking.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AinsworthB. E.HaskellW. L.WhittM. C.IrwinM. L.SwartzA. M.StrathS. J.OBrienW. L.BassettD. R.SchmitzK. H.EmplaincourtP. O.JacobsD. R.LeonA. S. (2000). Compendium of Physical Activities: An update of activity codes and MET intensities:Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 32(Supplement), S498-S516. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-200009001-00009
2.
BritoW. F.SantosC. L.dos MarcolongoA.doA.CamposM. D.BocaliniD. S.AntonioE. L.Silva JuniorJ. A.TucciP. J. F.SerraA. J. (2012). Physical activity levels in public school teachers. Revista de Saude Publica, 46, 104-109. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102012000100013
3.
BullF. C.Al-AnsariS. S.BiddleS.BorodulinK.BumanM. P.CardonG.CartyC.ChaputJ.-P.ChastinS.ChouR.DempseyP. C.DiPietroL.EkelundU.FirthJ.FriedenreichC. M.GarciaL.GichuM.JagoR.KatzmarzykP. T.…WillumsenJ. F. (2020). World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54(24), 1451-1462. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955
4.
CaroppoA.LeoneA.SicilianoP. (2017). Objective assessment of physical activity and sedentary time of older adults using ambient and wearable sensor technologies. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s126520170610-5
5.
CenaH.PorriD.De GiuseppeR.KalmpourtzidouA.SalvatoreF. P.GhochM. E.ItaniL.KreidiehD.Brytek-MateraA.PocolC. B. (2021). How Healthy Are Health-Related Behaviors in University Students: The HOLISTic Study. Nutrients, 13(2), 675.
6.
ChanC. B.RyanD. A. J.Tudor-LockeC. (2004). Health benefits of a pedometer-based physical activity intervention in sedentary workers. Preventive Medicine, 39(6), 1215-1222.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.04.053
7.
ChaputJ.-P.WillumsenJ.BullF.ChouR.EkelundU.FirthJ.JagoR.OrtegaF. B.KatzmarzykP. T. (2020). 2020WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour for children and adolescents aged 5-17 years: Summary of the evidence. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 17(1), 141. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-01037-z
8.
ChuA. H. Y.MoyF. M. (2013). Associations of occupational, transportation, household and leisure-time physical activity patterns with metabolic risk factors among middle-aged adults in a middle-income country. Preventive Medicine, 57, S14-S17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.12.011
9.
ClelandC. L.HunterR. F.KeeF.CupplesM. E.SallisJ. F.TullyM. A. (2014). Validity of the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) in assessing levels and change in moderate-vigorous physical activity and sedentary behaviour. BMC Public Health, 14(1), 1255. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1255
10.
CraigC. L.MarshallA. L.SjostromM.BaumanA. E.BoothM. L.AinsworthB. E.PrattM.EkelundU.YngveA.SallisJ. F.OjaP. (2003). International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 35(8), 1381-1395. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.MSS.0000078924.61453.FB Demography—Working age population—OECD Data (2022). Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://data.oecd.org/pop/working-age-population.htm
11.
DingerM. K.BehrensT. K.HanJ. L. (2006). Validity and reliability of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire in college students. American Journal of Health Education, 37(6), 337-343.
12.
DubuyV.De CockerK. A.De BourdeaudhuijI. M.MaesL.MetsuP.Van AckerR.CardonG. M. (2013). '10 000 Steps Flanders': Evaluation of the state-wide dissemination of a physical activity intervention in Flanders. Health Education Research, 28(3), 546-551.
13.
Gawel-DabrowskaD.EinhornJ.PoVltyn-ZaradnaK.ZatoriskaK. (2016). A physical activity assessment of Wroclaw Medical University students with IPAQ-long questionnaire: A cross sectional study. Family Medicine & Primary Care Review, 1, 12-18.
14.
GonzalezE. C.HernandezE. C.ColtraneA. K.ManceraJ. M. (2014). The correlation between physical activity and grade point average for health science graduate students. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 34(3), 160-167.
15.
KaminskyL. A.MontoyeA. H. (2014). Physical activity and health: What is the best dose? In Journal of the American Heart Association (Vol. 3, Issue 5, p. e001430). Am Heart Assoc.
16.
KokicI. S.ZnikaM.BrumnicV. (2019a). Physical activity, health-related quality of life and musculoskeletal pain among students of physiotherapy and social sciences in Eastern Croatia-Cross-sectional survey. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine, 26(1).
17.
KokicI. S.ZnikaM.BrumnicV. (2019b). Physical activity, health-related quality of life and musculoskeletal pain among students of physiotherapy and social sciences in Eastern Croatia-Cross-sectional survey. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine, 26(1).
18.
LinM.-L.HuangJ.-J.ChuangH.-Y.TsaiH.-M.WangH.-H. (2018). Physical activities and influencing factors among public health nurses: A cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 8(4), e019959. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019959
19.
LuckhauptS. E.DahlhamerJ. M.GonzalesG. T.LuM.-L.GroenewoldM.SweeneyM. H.WardB. W. (2019). Prevalence, Recognition of Work-Relatedness, and Impact on Work of Low Back Pain among U.S. Workers. Annals of Internal Medicine, 171(4), 301-304. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-3602
20.
Matusiak-WieczorekE.LipertA.KochanE.JegierA. (2020). The time spent sitting does not always mean a low level of physical activity. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-5.
21.
MeckesS.McDonaldM.LancasterC. (2020). Association between physical activity and mental health among first responders with different service roles. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 13. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000971
22.
MedinaC.BarqueraS.JanssenI. (2013). Validity and reliability of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire among adults in Mexico. Rev Panam Salud Publica, 8.
23.
OuzzaniMouradHammadyHossamFedorowiczZbysRayyanAhmed Elmagarmid. — a web and mobile app for systematic reviews. Systematic Reviews (2016) 5:210, DOI: 10.1186/s13643-016-0384-4.
24.
PattersonR.WebbE.MillettC.LavertyA. A. (2019). Physical activity accrued as part of public transport use in England. Journal of Public Health, 41(2), 222-230. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdy099
25.
Pavicic ZezeljS.KenVdjel JovanovicG.KresicG. (2019). The association between the Mediterranean diet and high physical activity among the working population in Croatia. Medycyna Pracy, 70(2), 1-8.
26.
PedisicZ.GrebloZ.PhongsavanP.MiltonK.BaumanA. E. (2015). Are Total, Intensity- and Domain-Specific Physical Activity Levels Associated with Life Satisfaction among University Students?PLOS ONE, 10(2), e0118137. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118137
27.
PeplonskaB.BukowskaA.SobalaW. (2014). Rotating night shift work and physical activity of nurses and midwives in the cross-sectional study in \L odz, Poland. Chronobiology International, 31(10), 1152-1159.
28.
Puig-RiberaA.Bort-RoigJ.Gine-GarrigaM.Gonzalez-SuarezA. M.Martinez-LemosI.FortunoJ.MilaR.Munoz-OrtizL.GilsonN. D.McKennaJ. (2017). Can a workplace 'sit less, move more' programme help Spanish office employees achieve physical activity targets?European Journal of Public Health, 27(5), 926-928. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckx104
29.
SlotT. R.DumasG. A. (2010). Musculoskeletal symptoms in tree planters in Ontario, Canada. Work, 36(1), 67-75.
30.
Systematic Reviews (OPEN ACCESS)PageMJMcKenzieJEBossuytPMBoutronIHoffmannTCMulrowCD, et al. The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. Systematic Reviews 2021;10:89
31.
TurnerP. J. F.SiddallA. G.StevensonR. D. M.StandageM.BilzonJ. L. J. (2018). Lifestyle behaviours and perceived well-being in different fire service roles. Occupational Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqy110
32.
VandelanotteC.ShortC.RockloffM.Di MilliaL.RonanK.HappellB.DuncanM. J. (2015). How do different occupational factors influence total, occupational, and leisure-time physical activity?Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 12(2), 200-207.
33.
WalshS. M.MeyerM. R. U.StamatisA.MorganG. B. (2015). Why women sit: Determinants of leisure sitting time for working women. Women's Health Issues, 25(6), 673-679.
