Cited by 360Physical Activity and HealthWorkplace Health and Well-beingOccupational Health and Performance

Do highly physically active workers die early? A systematic review with meta-analysis of data from 193 696 participants

Open access
Coenen, Pieter, Huysmans, Maaike A, Holtermann, Andreas, Krause, Niklas, van Mechelen, Willem, Straker, Leon M, van der Beek, Allard J·2018·British Journal of Sports Medicine

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence suggests the existence of a physical activity paradox, with beneficial health outcomes associated with leisure time physical activity, but detrimental health outcomes for those engaging in high level occupational physical activity. This is the first quantitative systematic review of evidence regarding the association between occupational physical activity and all-cause mortality. DESIGN: Systematic review with meta-analysis. DATA SOURCE: A literature search was performed in electronic databases PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Cochrane. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: We screened for peer reviewed articles from prospective studies assessing the association of occupational physical activity with all-cause mortality. A meta-analysis assessed the association of high (compared with low) level occupational physical activity with all-cause mortality, estimating pooled hazard ratios (HR) (with 95% CI). RESULTS: 2490 unique articles were screened and 33 (from 26 studies) were included. Data from 17 studies (with 193 696 participants) were used in a meta-analysis, showing that men with high level occupational physical activity had an 18% increased risk of early mortality compared with those engaging in low level occupational physical activity (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.34). No such association was observed among women, for whom instead a tendency for an inverse association was found (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.01). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this review indicate detrimental health consequences associated with high level occupational physical activity in men, even when adjusting for relevant factors (such as leisure time physical activity). These findings suggest that research and physical activity guidelines may differentiate between occupational and leisure time physical activity.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1136/bjsports-2017-098540

Cites

84 of 84 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

The text we found for this paper looks like another document, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The text we found for this paper looks like another document, so the self-check wasn’t run.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Coenen, P., Huysmans, M. A., Holtermann, A., Krause, N., van Mechelen, W., Straker, L. M., & van der Beek, A. J.
Affiliations
  • Curtin University (AU)
  • Amsterdam Public Health (NL)
  • University of Southern Denmark (DK)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author
Coenen, Pieter
Venue
British Journal of Sports Medicine
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2018-05-14
Volume
52
Issue
20
Pages
1320-1326
ISSN
  • 0306-3674 (ISSN-L)
  • 1473-0480
OpenAlex
W2802493408
Cited by
360
References
84
Citations by year
2026: 35 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 68 · 2020: 53 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1
FWCI
5.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • British Journal of Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (acceptedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
  • Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Performance
Keywords
occupational physical activity, all-cause mortality, leisure-time physical activity, sex differences, early mortality, physical activity guidelines, occupational health
MeSH terms
Female, Humans, Male, Mortality, Occupations, Recreation, Risk Factors, Exercise

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review