Intervention with counseling on physical activity and sedentary behavior among employees of a public university in southern Brazil

Abstract

Remote interventions with counseling on physical activity (PA) can be promoted to reduce health problems and maintain good worker health. The objective of this study is to verify the effectiveness of a mixed health promotion intervention on the level of PA and reduction of sedentary behavior (SB) among technical-administrative staff in education (TAEs) at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), southern Brazil. This intervention involves counseling in the form of lectures and distribution of brochures related to nutritional aspects, PA, and musculoskeletal pain (MSP). The TAEs were invited to participate in the INVISTA study (Intervention for a Healthy Lifestyle and Active Work), offered as a training course. Linear mixed models (LMM) were used in the analyses to verify factors associated with SB and PA. The intervention took place between April and July 2022, with the following groups: intervention (GI: 20), who attended eight online lectures and received informational materials, and control (GC: 73), who only answered the assessment instrument at baseline and post-intervention. In the first data collection, 93 subjects responded to the instrument. After the intervention, the questionnaire was resent to the same subjects and the return was n = 83 (GI: 19; GC: 64). According to the analyses, self-care and physical activity were not associated with the groups (GI and GC), the time points (pre- and post-intervention), the sexes (male and female), and the work modalities (remote, hybrid, or in-person). However, the self-care of the TAES is concerning, reaching 8.5 hours/day, and its reduction is necessary to improve health aspects.