Investigating the Effectiveness of Exercise Coaching on the Physical Activity Behavior of Physically Inactive Employees.

Investigating the Effectiveness of Exercise Coaching on the Physical Activity Behavior of Physically Inactive Employees in a Company in Flanders: a Randomized Control Trial.

The primary aim of this study is to investigate if and how a physical activity counselor can offer an added value in exercise promotion in physically inactive employees. We will explore if the physical activity counselor in the workplace setting can motivate sedentary employees to engage into systematic participation in sports and/or exercise by means of a short term coaching of 12 weeks. We aim to include 300 employees in the physical activity coaching process.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sedentary Lifestyle
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: physical activity coaching

Detailed Description

Being physically active on a regular basis has many health benefits. Nevertheless, the majority of the Belgian population doesn't reach the recommended amount and intensity of physical activity to profit from these health benefits. A physical activity counselor can possibly play a crucial role for these physically inactive individuals. He/she can design an individualized exercise program to stimulate the person to become lifelong physical active. Research has shown that exercise promotion at work can result in a lower absenteeism, prevention of burn-out and a positive corporate identity.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 301
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Vlaams Brabant
    • Leuven, Vlaams Brabant, Belgium, 3000
      • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Employee of Janssen Pharmaceutics Belgium
• Physically inactive lifestyle (not reaching 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity a week)
• PAR-Q questionnaire all answers negative, if one or more answers are positive a permission of a physician is necessary

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control condition; Physically inactive employees are measured on anthropometrics, fitness and psycho-social variables.
Experimental: Physical Activity Coaching; Physically inactive employees receiving a 12-week behavioural support intervention grounded in self-determination theory.	Behavioral: physical activity coaching; After measuring physical actity, physical fitness level, anthropometric and psychosocial variables a personalized 12 week physical activity program is made (=baseline). The intervention consisted of two face-to-face counselling sessions at the start of the intervention, short contacts by e-mail or telephone at weeks 3, 6 and 9, and two face-to-face counselling sessions at the end of the intervention. Employees exercise on their own. After 12 weeks and 6 months all measures are repeated.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in objective measure of degree of physical activity	Sensewear: accelerometer worn on the upper arm during 7 consecutive days measuring the physical activity pattern during this period	baseline, 12 weeks, 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in health-related anthropometric measures	Weight, Abdominal circumference, Bodycomposition (fat- and musclepercentage)	baseline, 12 weeks, 6 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in psycho-social variables	Measuring general and work related well-being, motivation to be physically active and social identification with the physical activity group	baseline, 12 weeks, 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven
• Collaborators: Janssen Pharmaceutica
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jan Seghers, Dr, Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Arrogi A, Schotte A, Bogaerts A, Boen F, Seghers J. Increasing Employees' Health by Workplace Physical Activity Counseling: The Mediating Role of Step-Based Physical Activity Behavior Change. J Phys Act Health. 2019 Mar 1;16(3):205-213. doi: 10.1123/jpah.2018-0148. Epub 2019 Feb 15.
• Arrogi A, Schotte A, Bogaerts A, Boen F, Seghers J. Short- and long-term effectiveness of a three-month individualized need-supportive physical activity counseling intervention at the workplace. BMC Public Health. 2017 Jan 9;17(1):52. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3965-1.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 30, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 30, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): January 3, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): December 3, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 2, 2015
• Last Verified: December 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical activity counselor; Workplace intervention; Active and healthy lifestyle
• Other Study ID Numbers: S54788