A Scoping Review of Digital Tools to Reduce Sedentary Behavior or Increase Physical Activity in Knowledge Workers

Abstract

Background: There is increasing interest in the role that technology can play in improving the vitality of knowledge workers. A promising and widely adopted strategy to attain this goal is to reduce sedentary behavior (SB) and increase physical activity (PA). In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art SB and PA interventions using technology in the office environment. By scoping the existing landscape, we identified current gaps and underexplored possibilities. We discuss opportunities for future development and research on SB and PA interventions using technology. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in the Association for Computing Machinery digital library, the interdisciplinary library Scopus, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Xplore Digital Library to locate peer-reviewed scientific articles detailing SB and PA technology interventions in office environments between 2009 and 2019. Results: The initial search identified 1130 articles, of which 45 studies were included in the analysis. Our scoping review focused on the technologies supporting the interventions, which were coded using a grounded approach. Conclusion: Our findings showed that current SB and PA interventions using technology provide limited possibilities for physically active ways of working as opposed to the common strategy of prompting breaks. Interventions are also often offered as additional systems or services, rather than integrated into existing office infrastructures. With this work, we have mapped different types of interventions and provide an increased understanding of the opportunities for future multidisciplinary development and research of technologies to address sedentary behavior and physical activity in the office context.

Visualizing Computer-Based Activity on Ambient Displays to Reduce Sedentary Behavior at Work

“…It does not inform the user experience of our design proposals in an actual office work setting over a prolonged time. Second, contrary to previously published interventions [11], our devices do not measure direct data about sedentary behavior or physical (in)activity of individuals. Future work could consider triangulating data about computer activity with data about sedentary behavior, using off-the-shelf sensing products or wearables, such as fitness trackers [7] or office furniture [3,8,31].…”

“…Digital services have provided individuals with convenient access to information and efficient team interactions without breaking the workflow in majorly "seated" office jobs. As measures to reduce unhealthy inactive workstyles, several interventions have been using office workers' physical activity data [11], such as step count [7], sitting time [29], heart rate [31] and postures [32] to raise awareness or prompt breaks. However, it is challenging to promote physical activity in the workplace without triangulating physical activity data and contextual information [27].…”

“…Current interventions using computer activity data as an input are often displaying outputs under the form of dashboards or prompts on the computer screen [1,13,28,36]. Physical and tangible designs addressing office sedentary behavior exist, ranging from office furniture, lamps, or wearables [10][11][12]20]. Yet as shown in the scoping review by Damen et al [11], none of the artefacts reviewed used computer data as an input measure (preferring step counts, heartrate and motion).…”

“…Physical and tangible designs addressing office sedentary behavior exist, ranging from office furniture, lamps, or wearables [10][11][12]20]. Yet as shown in the scoping review by Damen et al [11], none of the artefacts reviewed used computer data as an input measure (preferring step counts, heartrate and motion).…”

The motivational profile does matter: an exploratory survey on the influence of remote office work on physical behavior during the COVID19 lockdown

“…(13)), a growing number of technology-based interventions, also called eHealth or digital health interventions, is being developed to promote breaks in sedentary behavior among o ce workers (e.g. (16,17)). However, current interventions targeting the promotion of physical activity and interruption of inactivity among o ce workers do not consider situations of exible work (i.e., working partly from home).…”