Regular physical exercise has been shown to help patients with musculoskeletal problems and has also been shown to reduce the likelihood of an individual developing these problems. Exercise is easy for a doctor to prescribe, but patients often wind up not implementing their exercise regimen.

A Danish study sought to examine what factors influenced employees with neck and shoulder pain to persist with exercise program recommended to them by a medical practitioner. 

The researchers studied whether the participants kept up the exercise regime for ten weeks, and looked at what factors influenced whether they kept up or abandoned their exercise program.

Two factors stood out as influencing adherence to the program.

Workplace environments where people felt supported and the environment was positive had employees that were more likely to stick to the exercise program. People who had the belief they would manage well with the exercise program were, unsurprisingly, also more likely to persist. 

The outcome was not significantly influenced by whether people had been advised to do short or long periods of exercise. 

While the numbers in the study are relatively small – only 132 people participated – the implications are broad.

There is increasing interest in workplace based health promotion. For a workplace health program to be cost effective there needs to be a large take-up rate among employees. The study also implies that a positive work environment is an important determinant of successful implementation of exercise based work programs. 

Tackling the work environment is an important issue for exercise programs, whether they are to treat specific musculoskeletal conditions, or to act as a preventative for future musculoskeletal problems. 

Author

Andersen LL.

Institution

National Research Centre for Working Environment, Lerso Parkalle, Copenhagen, Denmark. lla@nrcwe.dk

Title

Influence of psychosocial work environment on adherence to workplace exercise.

Source

Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine.  53(2):182-4, 2011 Feb.

Country of Publication

United States

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Physical exercise can reduce the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, but adherence to exercise is challenging for many employees. This study determines prognostic factors for adherence to workplace exercise.

METHODS: In Copenhagen, 132 office workers with neck/shoulder pain were randomized to 2 or 12 minutes of exercise five days a week. Low, medium, and high adherence was defined as performing less than 10, 10-30, or more than 30 exercise sessions during the subsequent 10 weeks. Odds ratios (OR) for adherence were modelled by logistic regression.

RESULTS: Lower adherence to the 10-week exercise program was predicted by poorer psychosocial work environment and lower exercise self-efficacy. A longer exercise program was not associated with lower adherence.

CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent strategies to improve psychosocial work environment and individual exercise beliefs should be considered when implementing exercise at the workplace.

PubMed Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21270655