Physical activity and health promotion programs in the workplace: A meta-analysis of effectiveness in European organizations

Abstract

Scientific literature shows numerous examples of the influence of physical activity on people’s health. Other reviews have focused on physical activity in the workplace, but none of them deals exclusively with European companies and interventions. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of physical activity and health interventions conducted within European companies. A meta-analysis was conducted, which assessed 661 relevant studies found through both electronic and manual search. An electronic search was conducted through the use of several databases. A manual search was conducted through the consultation of references from other reviews and experts who are a reference in the field of physical activity, health and companies. Once the main variables were clustered, the effect size of such interventions was calculated. The methodological quality was rated using the PEDro scale, based on the Delphi list. In 18 analyzed studies, a small effect of the programs over the variables, in general, was found (ES = 0.21; CI 95% 0.07–0.35). Additionally, the effect of the interventions on some of the predominant variables was also small. These results suggest a high variability. It would be useful to develop more interventions in the future, as well as to obtain global health indicators that may help clear such variability and move toward designing successful approaches.