8274456 The 3-months effectiveness of a digital multicomponent intervention to reduce sitting in the home-office context: preliminary results of a cluster randomized study in 4 European countries

<h3>Objective</h3> Home-office work has been shown to increase occupational sitting compared to the traditional office environment. As the number of home-office workers remains high and given the harmful effects of prolonged sitting, this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a digital multicomponent intervention on reducing sitting in home-office workers. <h3>Methods</h3> A two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial in four European countries. At baseline, 160 participants were recruited with 128 participants at 3-months. The intervention included a wrist-worn wearable device, mobile phone application, educational material and organisational support. The primary outcome was occupational sedentary time, measured using the activPAL3tm. Secondary outcomes included other sedentary behaviours (e.g. total sedentary time and sedentary bouts) and (occupational and total) time spent standing, stepping and light and moderate intensity physical activity, all measured using activPAL3tm. For the purpose of this abstract, effects of the intervention were assessed using an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Final analysis will be performed by linear mixed models accounting for covariates. <h3>Results</h3> Mean(sd) total occupational sedentary time at baseline was 6.5(1.4) and 6.3(1.2) hours/day for the intervention group and control group, respectively. Within group analyses showed a significant reduction in total occupational sedentary time (z=903.0, p=0.010) and total time of sedentary bouts greater than 60 minutes (z=827.0, p=0.033) in the intervention group at 3-months. ANCOVA results showed no significant difference between the study groups in the mean change in occupational sedentary time. Further, in any of the sedentary or activity variables, no significant differences were found. <h3>Conclusion</h3> While these results show promising signs of the effectiveness of the digital multicomponent intervention on total and prolonged occupational sedentary behaviours, more time may be required to observe meaningful and significant change in this intervention. It is further recommended to further investigate whether the effects persist over time and result in work-related outcomes.