Sitting patterns in cardiovascular disease patients compared with healthy controls and impact of cardiac rehabilitation.

Purpose: To identify how and when to intervene in cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients' sedentary behavior, we moved beyond studying total volume of sitting and examined sitting patterns. By analyzing the timing of stand-to-sit and sit-to-stand transitions, we compared sitting patterns (a) between CVD patients and healthy controls, and (b) before and after cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Methods: One hundered twenty nine CVD patients and 117 age-matched healthy controls continuously wore a tri-axial thigh-worn accelerometer for 8 days (>120 000 posture transitions). CVD patients additionally wore the accelerometer directly and 2 months after CR. Results: With later time of the day, both CVD patients and healthy controls sat down sooner (i.e., shorter standing episode before sitting down; HR = 1.01, 95% CI [1.011, 1.015]) and remained seated longer (HR = 0.97, CI [0.966, 0.970]). After more previous physical activity, both groups sat down later (HR = 0.97, CI [0.959, 0.977]), and patients remained seated longer (HR = 0.96; CI [0.950, 0.974]). Immediately and 2-months following CR, patients sat down later (HRpost-CR = 0.96, CI [0.945, 0.974]; HRfollow-up = 0.96, CI [0.948, 0.977]) and stood up sooner (HRpost-CR = 1.04, CI [1.020, 1.051]; HRfollow-up = 1.03, CI [1.018, 1.050]). These effects were less pronounced with older age, higher BMI, lower sedentary behavior levels, and/or higher physical activity levels at baseline. Conclusion: Cardiac rehabilitation programs could be optimized by targeting CVD patients' sit-to-stand transitions, by focusing on high-risk moments for prolonged sitting (i.e., in evenings and after higher-than-usual physical activity) and attending to the needs of specific patient subgroups

Investigating the Associations among Overtime Work, Health Behaviors, and Health: A Longitudinal Study among Full-time Employees

# The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Background It has often been suggested that high levels of overtime lead to adverse health outcomes. One mechanism that may account for this association is that working overtime leads to elevated levels of stress, which could affect worker’s behavioral decisions or habits (such as smoking and lack of physical activity). In turn, this could lead to adverse health. Purpose The present study examined this reasoning in a prospective longitudinal design. Data from the prospective 2-year Study on Health at Work (N=649) were used to test our hypotheses. Methods Structural equation analysis was used to examine the relationships among overtime, beneficial (exercising, intake of fruit and vegetables) and risky (smoking and drinking) health behaviors, and health indicators (BMI and subjective health). Results Working overtime was longitudinally related with adverse subjective health, but not with body mass

Work Hours and Self rated Health of Hospital Doctors in Norway and Germany. A comparative study on national samples

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The relationship between extended work hours and health is well documented among hospital doctors, but the effect of national differences in work hours on health is unexplored. The study examines the relationship between work hours and self rated health in two national samples of hospital doctors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study population consisted of representative samples of 1,260 German and 562 Norwegian hospital doctors aged 25-65 years (N = 1,822) who received postal questionnaires in 2006 (Germany) and 2008 (Norway). The questionnaires contained items on demography, work hours (number of hours per workday and on-call per month) and self rated subjective health on a five point scale - dichotomized into "good" (above average) and "average or below".</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to Norway, a significantly higher proportion of German doctors exceeded a 9 hour work day (58.8% vs. 26.7%) and 60 hours on-call per month (63.4% vs. 18.3%). Every third (32.2%) hospital doctor in Germany worked more than this, while this pattern was rare in Norway (2.9%). In a logistic regression model, working in Norway (OR 4.17; 95% CI 3.02-5.73), age 25-44 years (OR 1.66; 95% CI 1.29-2.14) and not exceeding 9 hour work day and 60 hours on-call per month (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.03-1.77) were all independent significant predictors of good self reported health.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A lower percentage of German hospital doctors reported self rated health as "good", which is partly explained by the differences in work time pattern. Initiatives to increase doctors' control over their work time are recommended.</p