JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Office workers face workplace health issues, including stress and back pain, resulting in considerable costs to businesses and health care systems. Workplace health promotion attempts to prevent these health issues, and the Internet can be used to deliver workplace health promotion interventions to office workers. Data was provided by fitbase GmbH, a German company which specializes in workplace health promotion via the Internet (online-health). The online-health intervention allowed workers to focus on different health categories by using information modules (reading health information) and/or completing practical exercises (guided, interactive health tutorials).

Objective:

This study aimed to identify the extent to which office workers have health issues related to the workplace, assess whether office workers who differ in their health focus also differ in their improved well-being, and whether completing practical exercises influences improved well-being more than reading information modules.

Methods:

fitbase GmbH collected data for the period of February 2016 to May 2017 from health insurance employees undergoing online-health training in Hamburg, Germany. The data consisted of a needs assessment examining health issues faced by office workers, a wellness questionnaire regarding one’s perception of the online-health intervention, and activity logs of information modules and practical exercises completed. Through logistic regression, we determined associations between improved well-being from online-health training and differences in a worker’s health focus and a worker’s preferred intervention method.

Results:

Nearly half of the office workers chronically had back pain (1532 of 3354) and felt tense or irritated (1680 of 3348). Over four-fifths (645 of 766) of the office workers indicated that the online-health training improved their well-being (P<0.001). Office workers who preferred practical exercises compared to information modules had 2.2 times greater odds of reporting improved well-being from the online-health intervention (P=0.01; 95% CI, 1.20-4.11). Office workers with a back health focus within practical exercises had higher odds of improved well-being compared to other health foci. Office workers focused on back pain practical exercises had 3.1 times, 2.3 times, 3.1 times, and 3.4 times the odds of having their well-being improved from the online-health intervention compared to those focused in stress management, mindfulness, stress management/mindfulness, and eye health (P<0.001, P=0.02, P=0.005, P =0.003, respectively). For those who preferred information modules, no particular health focus predicted improved well-being.

Conclusions:

Office workers frequently report having back pain and stress. A focus on online-health training via practical exercises and back health exercises predict an improvement in office workers’ reported well-being.