Affiliations: School of Physical Education, Faculty of Education,
Universidad Católica del Maule, Chile | School of Sport and Recreation, Faculty of Health
& Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Marcelo Castillo-Retamal, School of
Sport and Recreation, Faculty of Health & Environmental Sciences,
Auckland University of Technology, AH Building, room 221d, Private Bag 92006,
Auckland 1142, New Zealand. Tel.: +64 9 921 9999 ext 7295; Fax: +64 9 921 9960; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Objective: To identify methods used to assess physical activity and
sedentary behaviour at the workplace and review the validity and reliability of
these measures. Methods: Databases were searched for relevant published
articles including MEDLINE, SPORT Discus, ProQuest and Google Scholar. Keywords
used were physical-activity, workplace, sedentary-behaviour, measurement and
questionnaire. Studies included were original, written in English, published
between 1990 and 2009, and focused on validated physical activity and sedentary
behaviour measures at work. Eleven papers were identified in which three used
criterion standards, three objective measures, and five subjective measures. Results: The most common method of data collection was through
self-report, surveys or questionnaires. Physical activity measured with motion
sensors, ranged from 4,422 to 10,334 steps/day (pedometers) and sedentary time
ranged from 1.8 to 6 hours/day (h/d) (accelerometers). Self-report measures
provided information relevant to the perception of physical activity at work
(∼ 0.5 h/d), sitting time (> 3 h/d) and calculated energy expenditure (< 800 kcal/d). Conclusion: Physical activity levels at work were
low while sedentary behaviour was high. This was largely a function of
occupation (white-collar vs. blue-collar). None of the studies assessed
validity or reliability of measures used however, instruments as assessed by
others showed moderate to strong validity and reliability values.
