Active workplace – Association between workplace layout and physical activity among employees: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

This study aims to examine the association between workplace layout typology and employees’ physical activity, sedentary behavior, and health. A multi-method approach was conducted for collecting data in four governmental office buildings in Erbil city between April 2022 and June 2022. Qualitative data collection includes architectural plan analysis and photography. Quantitative data collection includes a self-reported questionnaire by participating 132 desk-based employees measuring daily physical activity, sedentary behavior, and physical and mental health. For analyzing the collected responses from the desk-based employees of government office buildings, IBM SPSS (statistical package for the social sciences) software V.25 was adopted. The result shows that there is a significant difference in the mean value of physical activity among employees, physical activity. Despite the low level of physical activity, employees working in linear layout buildings were more physically active than those in radial layout (linear=1.31, P-value < 0.000; radial = 1.13, P-value<0.000). The result also shows that there is a significant positive relation between sedentary behavior and physical health (r= 0.191, P-value<0.05), and mental health (r= 0.172, P-value<0.05). Based on these findings, we can infer that improving the quality of the built environment and implementing active design solutions contribute to promoting physical activity, decreasing sedentary behavior, and enhancing occupational health.