Objectives The research aims to assess the level of physical activity among administrative, technical, and manual workers employed in Warszawa public institutions and to analyze the factors that increase the risk of failing to meet World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. Material and Methods The study comprised 373 employees of randomly selected institutions. A short version of International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was applied. The correlation between the mean values of duration, days, MET-min/week of efforts, gender, and type of work was analyzed using the Tukey’s honest significant difference (HSD) test, while the correlation between the level of physical activity and the socio-demographic characteristics was assessed with the Chi² test. The strength of the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and fulfilment of WHO standards was expressed by the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The significance level was p = 0.05. Results High levels of physical activity were declared by 41.8% of the manual workers, 14.7% of the administration staff, and 7.3% of the technicians; 19%, 31.5% and 54.5%, respectively, reported low levels of physical activity. Factors determining the fulfilment of the WHO recommendations include: the nature of work (p = 0.003), education (p = 0.004), and income (p = 0.003). The risk of being inactive nearly doubles in the case of administration staff (31.5%) and increases more than 4 times in the case of technicians (54.5%). Respondents with secondary school education (31.6%) are exposed to a 3-fold higher risk of inactivity, while in respondents with higher education (37.2%), the level of the risk is 4-fold higher. Compared to those in the highest income group (23.4%), people who earn less (34.1%) are inactive almost twice as often. Conclusions Urgent intervention is necessary in all studied groups: increased energy expenditure for recreation and locomotion, educational offers of employers to promote healthy lifestyle, management of leisure time budget, and strategies for changing behavior.
Introduction and objective: In Poland, there are only a few studies that refer to the whole society’s participation in sport and recreation and that are based an the international questionnaire thus allowing for comparative analysis with other European reports. The aim of the study was to determine the association between leisure physical activity and socio-demographic variables. Methods: A survey based on CAPI was carried out in Poland from October to November 2012. A random sample of Polish adults (N=1,633) was interviewed using the IPAQ-long form. The data were analyzed using standard statistical procedures. Results: More than 21% of Polish subjects did not undertake any physical activity in their leisure time. Of those who were physically active, over 70% engaged in vigorous physical activity; only one in four respondents performed moderate physical activity or walking. The average leisure physical activity of the Poles was 1,916.9 ± 2,621 MET-min/week. A comparison of the current results and European research findings demonstrated that the median physical activity for the Polish population (MET-min/week) was similar to the median values for Czech subjects and Norwegian males and nearly three times higher than Croats. Conclusions: Insufficient participation in the conscious process of caring for one’s health is a common occurrence among adults living in the EU. In order to encourage the Polish population’s participation in physical activities, it is necessary to raise their awareness of the need of well-balanced, regular exercise. Furthermore, this study suggests that caution is warranted before using the CAPI technique to provide the IPAQ-long form survey.
Background: The aim of this paper is to assess whether basic descriptive statistics is sufficient to interpret the data on physical activity of Poles within occupational domain of life. Material and Methods: The study group consisted of 964 randomly selected Polish working professionals. The long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used. Descriptive statistics included characteristics of variables using: mean (M), median (Me), maximal and minimal values (max–min.), standard deviation (SD) and percentile values. Statistical inference was based on the comparison of variables with the significance level of 0.05 (Kruskal-Wallis and Pearson’s Chi² tests). Results: Occupational physical activity (OPA) was declared by 46.4% of respondents (vigorous – 23.5%, moderate – 30.2%, walking – 39.5%). The total OPA amounted to 2751.1 MET-min/week (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) with very high standard deviation (SD) = 5302.8 and max = 35 511 MET-min/week. It concerned different types of activities. Approximately 10% (90th percentile) overstated the average. However, there was no significant difference depended on the character of the profession, or the type of activity. The average time of sitting was 256 min/day. As many as 39% of the respondents met the World Health Organization standards only due to OPA (42.5% of white-collar workers, 38% of administrative and technical employees and only 37.9% of physical workers). Conclusions: In the data analysis it is necessary to define quantiles to provide a fuller picture of the distributions of OPA in MET-min/week. It is also crucial to update the guidelines for data processing and analysis of long version of IPAQ. It seems that 16 h of activity/day is not a sufficient criterion for excluding the results from further analysis. Med Pr 2014;65(6):743–753
PL
Wstęp: Celem pracy jest ocena, czy stosowane dotychczas podstawowe statystyki opisowe są wystarczające do interpretacji danych dotyczących aktywności fizycznej Polaków w obrębie jednej z domen ich życia codziennego – aktywności fizycznej w pracy zawodowej. Materiał i metody: Badaną grupę stanowiło 964 losowo wybranych Polaków pracujących zawodowo. Zastosowano długą wersję International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ, Międzynarodowy Kwestionariusz Aktywności Fizycznej). Statystyka opisowa obejmowała charakterystykę zmiennych za pomocą wartości: średnich (M), mediany (Me), wartości maksymalnych i minimalnych (maks.–min.), odchylenia standardowego i percentylowych. Wnioskowanie statystyczne opierało się na porównaniu zmiennych (rangowy test Kruskala-Wallisa i test Chi² zgodności Pearsona). W ocenie istotności efektów przyjęto poziom istotności równy 0,05. Wyniki: Aktywność fizyczną w pracy deklarowało 46,4% badanych (wysiłek intensywny – 23,5%, umiarkowany – 30,2%, chodzenie – 39,5%). Całkowita (tygodniowa) aktywność fizyczna wynosiła 2751,1 MET-min/tydzień (Metabolic Equivalent of Task – równoważnik metaboliczny), ale odnotowano bardzo wysokie odchylenie standardowe (SD = 5302,8) i wartości maksymalne MET-min/tydzień (maks. = 35 511). Dotyczyło to także poszczególnych rodzajów wysiłków. Około 10% respondentów (90. percentyl) drastycznie zawyżało średnią. Nie stwierdzono natomiast żadnych istotnych różnic (p > 0,05) ani w zależności od charakteru wykonywanej pracy, ani w rodzaju wysiłku. Średni czas siedzenia wynosił 256,0±173,2 min/dzień. Aż 39% badanych spełniało prozdrowotne normy Światowej Organizacji Zdrowia (World Health Organization) wyłącznie dzięki aktywności fizycznej w pracy (aż 42,5% pracowników umysłowych, 38% administracyjno-technicznych, tylko 37,9% fizycznych). Wnioski: W analizie danych konieczne jest wyznaczanie kwantyli – dających pełniejszy obraz rozkładów wartości MET-min/tydzień aktywności fizycznej w pracy zawodowej. Konieczne jest także uaktualnienie wytycznych metodycznego postępowania podczas stosowania długiej wersji IPAQ. Wydaje się, że 16 godz. wysiłku na dzień nie jest wystarczającym kryterium do odrzucania uzyskanych wyników. Med. Pr. 2014;65(6):743–753
The paper aimed to analyse the level of depression, anxiety and stress of female teachers and determine its association with the subjects’ psychosocial, sociodemographic, and lifestyle characteristics. A survey based on Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and International Physical Activity Questionnaire was carried out. Among teachers, 27.3% reported moderate or higher overall levels of negative emotional symptoms. Teachers with low physical activity level (PAL) were likelier to report higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress than those with moderate or high PAL. The study indicates the importance of PA interventions for maintaining mental health in this group.
The aim of this work is an evaluation of the relation between risk behaviour of adolescents (bad eating habits, sedentary behaviour and abuse of psychoactive substances and stimulants) and fulfilling pro-health recommendations related with physical activity. The survey study was conducted in 2016 in Warsaw middle and high schools among 609 students using standardised international tools. World Health Organisation recommendations concerning pro-health physical activity level are met only by 24.2% of surveyed teenagers. Physical activity is a factor protecting teenagers from sitting for over 2 hours a day and bad eating habits. Prophylactic programs should consider promotion of physical activity.
Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the multi-instrument assessment of physical activity in female office workers. Material and Methods Fifty healthy women (age (mean ± standard deviation): 34.8±5.9 years, body height: 158±0.4 cm, body weight: 61.8±7.5 kg, body mass index: 24.6±2.7 kg/m²) workers from the same workplace volunteered to participate in the study. Physical activity was measured with the 7-day Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire (7-d PAAQ), an objective multi-sensor armband tool, and also a waist-mounted pedometer, which were both worn for 7 days. Results A significant correlation between step numbers measured by armband and pedometer was observed (r = 0.735), but the step numbers measured by these 2 methods were significantly different (10 941±2236 steps/ day and 9170±2377 steps/day, respectively; p < 0.001). There was a weak correlation between the value of 7-d PAAQ total energy expenditure and the value of armband total energy expenditure (r = 0.394, p = 0.005). However, total energy expenditure values measured by armband and 7-d PAAQ were not significantly different (2081±370 kcal/ day and 2084±197 kcal/day, respectively; p = 0.96). In addition, physical activity levels (average daily metabolic equivalents (MET)) measured by armband and 7-d PAAQ were not significantly different (1.45±0.12 MET/day and 1.47±0.24 MET/day, respectively; p = 0.44). Conclusions The results of this study showed that the correlation between pedometer and armband measurements was higher than that between armband measurements and 7-d PAAQ selfreports. Our results suggest that none of the assessment methods examined here, 7-d PAAQ, pedometer, or armband, is sufficient when used as a single tool for physical activity level determination. Therefore, multi-instrument assessment methods are preferable. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2016;29(6):937–945
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