The variability of the trunk forward bending in standing activities during work vs. leisure time

High level of occupational physical activity (PA), contrary to leisure time activities, is generally associated with detrimental health outcomes. We hypothesized that this contrast may be associated with a different pattern of exposure variability in PA, e.g., forward bending of the trunk. The study was conducted on 657 blue-collar workers. Two accelerometers were used to identify the body posture and forward bending of the trunk during work and leisure time. The pattern of forward bending was analyzed using exposure variation analysis (EVA). The recordings comprised of 2.6 ± 0.97 working days in average, with 19.9 ± 8.1 h work and 22.9 ± 8.9 h leisure. The standard deviation and entropy of the EVA profile indicated 11% and 6% (for about 80% of subjects) less variable pattern during work compared with the leisure time, respectively. These new findings contribute to the understanding the paradoxical outcomes of PA during work and leisure.