Is Sitting Time Associated with Increased Health Risks in Nurses?

Title:  Is Sitting Time Associated with Increased Health Risks in Nurses?

Background: Sitting time (ST) has increased substantially in the last 50 years and is an emerging health risk. There is evidence that prolonged ST is a risk factor for all-cause mortality, independent of physical activity. Nurses are particularly at risk due to low baseline physical activity, older age, and the increasing use of computers in patient care, education, and research facilities.  There are no studies of nurses in the United States that examine their average daily ST in relation to health risk. 

Objective: The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to explore the ST of nurses in the United States in relation to general health.

Method: A convenience sample (n = 86) was recruited from a 2014 Annual Research Conference held in the southwestern U.S. Participants completed demographic items, general health questions, and the Workforce Sitting Questionnaire (Chau, 2011), which asked ST while traveling, working , watching TV, using the computer at home, and doing other leisure activities on work and non-work days. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational statistics.

Results: The average age of the participants was 47.4 years and 91% of the sample was female. The average BMI was 26.6 (SD ± 5.0) and 75.9 % of the participants described their general health as excellent or very good. The percentage of participants indicating that they were currently taking a medicine for blood pressure was 25.3 %, for high cholesterol was 17.7 %, and/or for diabetes was 3.8 %.  Total average ST was 10.5 hr (SD ± 3.7) on workdays and 10.3 hr (SD ± 4.9) on non-workdays. Across domains on workdays the average ST was 1.3 hr (transportation), 5.5 hr (at work), 1.3 hr (watching TV), 1.9 hr (home computer use), and 0.9 hr (other leisure activities). Total ST and ST domains for work days were not associated with self-reported BMI.  Sitting time domain for working on a non-work day did correlate with BMI (r = -.26). There was also an association in the average ST for non-work days with current usage of blood pressure medications (r = -.44).

Discussion:  Evidence from earlier studies indicates that sitting for prolonged periods of time each day leads to negative health outcomes; this study demonstrated a relationship between working on a non-work day and BMI.  In addition, the usage of blood pressure medications was associated with average ST on a non-work day.  These findings support and add to our understanding of the effects of sitting time on increased health risks.