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

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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

sitting
physical activity
epidemiology
employees
workplaces

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The authors have stated they have no conflict of interest.