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

Abstract

Active design is the translation of health research into design solutions that amplify the role of architecture and urban planning in enhancing public health. It also focuses on the elements of the built environment that can encourage daily physical activity. Office employees are one of the demographics "at risk" for insufficient physical activity and prolonged sitting time. The spatial environment of the workplace has indeed been recognized as a correlate of workers' active and sedentary behaviors. 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 government office buildings in Erbil between April 2022 and June 2022. Qualitative data collection included architectural plan analysis and photography. Quantitative data collection included a self-reported questionnaire by 132 deskbased employees measuring daily physical activity, sedentary behavior, and physical and mental health. IBM SPSS (statistical package for the social sciences) software V.25 was adopted to analyze the collected responses from the desk-based employees of government office buildings. The result showed that there is a significant difference in the mean value of physical activity among employees. Despite the low level of physical activity, employees working in buildings with a linear layout were more physically active than those in buildings with a radial layout (linear = 1.31, P-value < 0.000; radial = 1.13, P-value<0.000). The result also showed that there is a significant positive relationship between sedentary behavior and physical health (r = 0.191, P-value<0.05) and mental health (r = 0.172, P-value<0.05). On the basis of 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.