Effects of Two Randomized and Controlled Multi-Component Interventions Focusing On 24-Hour Movement Behavior among Office Workers: A Compositional Data Analysis

Abstract

Intervention studies aiming at changing movement behavior have usually not accounted for the compositional nature of time-use data. Compositional data analysis (CoDA) has been suggested as a useful strategy for analyzing such data. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of two multi-component interventions on 24-h movement behavior (using CoDA) and on cardiorespiratory fitness among office workers; one focusing on reducing sedentariness and the other on increasing physical activity. Office workers (n = 263) were cluster randomized into one of two 6-month intervention groups, or a control group. Time spent in sedentary behavior, light-intensity, moderate and vigorous physical activity, and time in bed were assessed using accelerometers and diaries, both for 24 h in total, and for work and leisure time separately. Cardiorespiratory fitness was estimated using a sub-maximal cycle ergometer test. Intervention effects were analyzed using linear mixed models. No intervention effects were found, either for 24-h behaviors in total, or for work and leisure time behaviors separately. Cardiorespiratory fitness did not change significantly. Despite a thorough analysis of 24-h behaviors using CoDA, no intervention effects were found, neither for behaviors in total, nor for work and leisure time behaviors separately. Cardiorespiratory fitness did not change significantly. Although the design of the multi-component interventions was based on theoretical frameworks, and included cognitive behavioral therapy counselling, which has been proven effective in other populations, issues related to implementation of and compliance with some intervention components may have led to the observed lack of intervention effect.

Effects of physical activity intervention on 24-h movement behaviors: a compositional data analysis

“…Our findings are in line with the previous RCT study by Larisch et al 17 utilizing CoDA to evaluate the effects of two types of interventions, one aimed at increasing physical activity and another aimed at decreasing sedentary time among office workers. After 6 months, they found no intervention effect on the 24-h composition for either of the interventions 17 .…”

“…Our findings are in line with the previous RCT study by Larisch et al 17 utilizing CoDA to evaluate the effects of two types of interventions, one aimed at increasing physical activity and another aimed at decreasing sedentary time among office workers. After 6 months, they found no intervention effect on the 24-h composition for either of the interventions 17 . In another RCT, the CoDA was used to examine the effect of a workplace sitting-reduction intervention on the replacement of sitting with standing during wake-time, with preferable changes found during work-time, but not during leisure time 16 .…”

“…Compared to these previous intervention studies, our study evaluated a more comprehensive intervention targeted to change all wake-time movement behaviors, and included all movement behaviors to the 24-h composition. In addition, we utilized balance coordinates to compare e.g., active behaviors to passive behaviors, which we observed to be a more sensitive way of detecting shifting towards more activity at the cost of passive behaviors, when compared to pivot coordinates comparing one component at a time to all the remaining components 17 . However, despite the potentially more appropriate approach, the activity tracker based intervention was not efficient enough to elicit changes to the 24-h composition.…”

“…One previous randomized controlled trial (RCT) applied CoDA to study the effect of a workplace sitting-reduction intervention on wake-time sitting, standing and moving, and reported significant changes on work-time sitting and standing time (− 110 min and + 108 min per 16-h day, respectively) but not on leisure-time behavior 16 . In an another RCT study, two types of interventions, one aiming at decreasing sedentary time and another aiming at increasing physical activity, were conducted among office workers 17 , but no intervention effects on 24-h movement behaviors were found. These previous RCTs thus suggest that interventions targeted to workplace or aiming to change only one type of movement behavior may be inadequate to change the 24-h composition.…”

The Role of Executive Function in the Effectiveness of Multi-Component Interventions Targeting Physical Activity Behavior in Office Workers

“…We instructed the participants to wear the GT3X for 7 days before the intervention and 7 days after the interventions—on the hip during wake time and move it to the left wrist during the in-bed time. While the sleep duration was recorded by the participants from the time that they began trying to fall asleep till the time they got out of bed in a daily diary [ 22 , 23 ]. Around 1% of participants at baseline and 3% of participants after intervention were with missing value in the diary information, we therefore applied a standard sleep time for those with missing value from 11 PM AM to 6 AM.…”