Secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial on reducing sedentary behaviour and its effects on quality of life and wellbeing

TL;DR

Reducing sedentary behavior by one hour per day may improve vitality in adults with metabolic syndrome, according to a randomized trial.

Contribution

This study demonstrates that reducing sedentary time without adding exercise can improve perceived vitality in at-risk adults.

Findings

The intervention group showed increased vitality scores compared to the control group.

Reducing sedentary behavior correlated with better social functioning and lower stress.

Aim to reduce sedentary time by one hour per day may benefit wellbeing in inactive adults with metabolic syndrome.

Abstract

High sedentary behaviour (SB) associates with poorer wellbeing among adults at increased cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of reducing SB on perceived quality of life, depressive symptoms, stress, and workability among physically inactive adults with metabolic syndrome. Sixty-four sedentary, inactive adults [58 (SD 7) years old, 58% women, BMI 32 (4) kg/m2] with metabolic syndrome were randomised into the intervention (n = 33) and control (n = 31) groups. The 6-month intervention aimed at reducing SB by 1 h/day without adding exercise, while the control group kept their usual SB. All participants wore accelerometers throughout the study to monitor SB and physical activity. Health-related quality of life, stress, depressive symptoms and workability were assessed at baseline, at three months, and after the intervention using the RAND-36, perceived stress questionnaire (PSQ), general health questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the workability score. Main intervention effects were analysed using linear mixed models for repeated measurements. The RAND-36 vitality score decreased in the control group [-2.9 (95% CI -7.7, 1.9) and -1.0 (-5.9, 4.0) from baseline to three and six months, respectively] and increased in the intervention group [+5.7 (1.1, 10.4) and +5.3 (0.4, 10.3) from baseline to three and six months, respectively; between-group difference at three months p = 0.012 and at six months p = 0.079]. The PSQ index increased among all participants [+0.03 (-0.01, 0.06) from baseline to six months; time p = 0.033, no significant between-group differences p = 0.143]. Among all participants, the change in SB correlated negatively with the change in RAND-36 social functioning score, and the change in light physical activity correlated negatively with the change in PSQ index. Moreover, the change in SB breaks correlated negatively with the RAND-36 physical and social functioning scores. Aiming to reduce SB by 1 h/day may increase perceived vitality among physically inactive adults with metabolic syndrome.

The study was pre-registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (5/4/2017, NCT03101228).

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-20836-7.

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