| dc.description.abstract | Objective: To investigate the effect of physical exercise interventions, done in the workplace,
on sickness absence. The review was done with special interest in progress in the
intervention effect and design the last 5 years.
Method: The literature was identified by search in three scientific databases, PubMed,
Sport Discus and Web of Science. The search identified 660 studies that were screened
and then excluded if: 1.They were not in English. 2. Full text was not available. 3. The intervention
was not implemented at the workplace or in relation with the workplace. 4.
Sickness absence was not reported. 5. The study was not experimental design. 6. Intervention
did not comprise physical exercise or aim to increase physical exercise. In total 10
studies were included in the review.Results: Two of the ten included studies showed significant decrease in sickness absence,
revealing the effect of increased physical exercise on sickness absence. The positive effect
in those two studies were shown with physical exercise during work hours and focused on
high intensity exercise. In terms of intervention strategies, three studies targeted consultation
and lifestyle coaching to increase physical activity and the other seven studies had active
physical exercise intervention. The intervention design varied between studies both of
intensity and type of exercise. All of the studies had the aim to decrease sickness absence.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this review, a fair conclusion seems that out of the
amount of exercise interventions or interventions that promote physical activity to reduce
sickness absence that has been conducted, only a small minority have shown evidence of
effect. In this review studies comprising different kind of interventions were included in
terms of intervention content, strategies as well as physical activity intensity. | nb_NO |
