TITLE:
A Longitudinal Look at Habit Strength as a Measure of Success in Decreasing Prolonged Occupational Sitting: An Evidence-Based Public Health Initiative
AUTHORS:
Scott J. Pedersen, P. Dean Cooley, Casey P. Mainsbridge, Vaughan J. Cruickshank
KEYWORDS:
Workplace Health, Occupational Sitting, Habit Strength, E-Health Intervention
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Safety Science and Technology,
Vol.8 No.2,
June
27,
2018
ABSTRACT: Background: Sitting to perform desk-based work is considered to be a habit. To test this hypothesis, desk-based workers volunteered to be part of a yearlong pilot study utilising an e-health intervention designed to interrupt prolonged workplace sitting with movement breaks. Methods: Participants in a passive-prompt group had to engage with an e-health software programme on an hourly basis during work hours, while participants in an active-prompt group were allowed to postpone the prompt each hour. Daily adherence data and self-reported sitting habit strength were measured every 13 weeks for one year. A mixed design ANOVA was used to determine significant differences at the p tive-prompt participants who actually reported increased sitting habit strength.Conclusions: This study provided preliminary evidence that changing desk-basedworkers’ sitting habits might be more difficult than previously estimated and that passive-based interventions could be one solution.