Perceived office environments and occupational physical activity in office-based workers

Background Individuals in office-based occupations have low levels of physical activity but there is little research into the socio-ecological correlates of workplace activity. Aims To identify factors contributing to office-based workers' perceptions of the office environment and explore cross-sectional relationships between these factors and occupational physical activity. Methods Participants in the Active Buildings study reported perceptions of their office environment using the Movement at Work Survey. A principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted on survey items. A sub-sample wore the ActivPAL(3)(TM) accelerometer for >= 3 workdays to measure occupational step count, standing, sitting and sit-to-stand transitions. Linear regression analyses assessed relationships between environmental perceptions and activity. Results There were 433 participants, with accelerometer data available for 115 participants across 11 organizations. The PCA revealed four factors: (i) perceived distance to office destinations, (ii) perceived office aesthetics and comfort, (iii) perceived office social environment and (iv) perceived management discouragement of unscheduled breaks. Younger participants perceived office destinations as being closer to their desk. Younger and female participants perceived more positive office social environments; there were no other socio-demographic differences. Within the sub-sample with accelerometer data, perceived discouragement of breaks by management was related to occupational step count/hour (B = -64.5;95% CI -109.7 to -19.2). No other environmental perceptions were related to activity or sitting. Conclusions Perceived managerial discouragement of breaks could be related to meaningful decreases in occupational step count. Future research should aim to elucidate the role of the workplace socio-cultural environment in occupational walking, with a focus on the role of management.