Associations of Device-Measured Sitting, Standing, and Stepping Time With Informal Face-to-Face Interactions at Work.

Takemi Sugiyama; Elisabeth A H Winkler; Anthony D LaMontagne; Genevieve N Healy; Nyssa T Hadgraft; David W Dunstan; Neville Owen
Abstract
This cross-sectional study examined the interrelationships between workplace movement (sitting, standing, and stepping), availability of discussion space, and face-to-face (FTF) interactions between workers.Desk-based workers (n = 221) wore an activity monitor for 7 days and self-reported their weekly frequency of FTF interactions and discussion space availability. Negative binomial regression models examined behavioral and spatial factors associated with the frequency of FTF interactions.Adjusted for potential confounders, each one standard deviation increment in time spent sitting, standing, stepping, and discussion space availability was associated with 20% lower (P = 0.004), 19% higher (P = 0.003), 6% higher (P = 0.16), and 11% higher (P = 0.26) frequency of FTF interactions, respectively CONCLUSIONS:: Lower workplace sitting was often linked to reduced risk of chronic diseases. Our findings suggest that less sitting at work may have additional benefits of increasing informal interactions between office workers.
Journal JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE
ISSN 1536-5948
Published 01 May 2019
Volume 61
Issue 5
Pages 431-436
DOI 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001586
Type Journal Article
Sponsorship NHMRC: 1118225; NHMRC: 1057608