Occupational Sedentary Behaviour and Health Risks among Nigerian Office Workers: Implications for Sitting-Time Reduction Interventions

Abstract

Sedentary Behaviour (SB) is a global problem in adults, one-third of which are inactive. Even so, literature is sparse regarding SB of the working class in Nigeria. In this paper, office SB of Nigerian workers and its possible relationship with the workers’ risk-factors and work-tools were investigated. Self-reporting technique (self-administered questionnaire) was used to acquire information from 466 respondents. Using the Ordinary Least Square model on STATA 16, the data were analysed and multiple comparisons of dependent variables were done. The mean office SB-time of the study participants was 4.76 hours (SD, 2.3) in a daily 8-hours job. There was significant association between the sitting time and the designs of the workers’ chairs (r=-0.227, p=0.001). In this cross-sectional survey, computer users sat longer at their desks (mean 5.09, SD 2.21) than others (r=0.312, p < 0.001); computer usage has high positive correlation with sitting time (coefficient 1.558) and prolonged sitting was associated with increasing reports of low back pain. This can be detrimental to the general occupational health of these workers, and may thus contribute to work-place absenteeism. There is therefore need for sitting-time reduction interventions to improve the workers’ health.