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Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background/aim: Office work is characterized by prolonged sitting and may be accompanied by musculoskeletal symptoms and reduced well-being. This study examined associations of step-based and self-reported physical activity, clinical posture, attitudes toward sports, smartphone addiction, and musculoskeletal symptom burden in office workers with the four domains of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale-Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF).

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 44 desk-based office workers at a public institution. WHOQOL-BREF domain scores were transformed to a 0–100 scale. Physical activity was assessed via 7-day average daily step counts and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF); posture was assessed using the New York Posture Rating Scale (NYPRS). Spearman correlations across seven candidate correlates and four WHOQOL-BREF domains were evaluated with Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction (28 tests). Exploratory multiple linear regression models used the same three predictors (daily steps per 1000 steps/day, NYPRS score, and Cornell musculoskeletal score) for each domain.

Results: The Physical Health regression model was significant (R2 = 0.381, adjusted R2 = 0.334, F(3,40) = 8.203, p < 0.001); NYPRS scores were positively associated with Physical Health (B = 5.45 per 6.70-point increase, beta = 0.330, p = 0.019, 95% CI: 0.95 to 9.94), Cornell scores were negatively associated (B = –4.48 per 83-point increase, beta = –0.271, p = 0.043, 95% CI: –8.80 to –0.17), and daily steps showed a positive but imprecise estimate (B = 1.169 points per 1000 steps/day, beta = 0.257, p = 0.065).

Conclusion: Better postural alignment showed the most consistent adjusted association with health-related quality of life, particularly the Physical and Psychological domains. Associations involving daily steps and musculoskeletal symptom burden were less stable across inferential and sensitivity analyses. Given the small cross-sectional sample, the findings are exploratory and should not be interpreted causally.

Author ORCID Identifier

GÜLSEMİN ERTÜRK ÇELİK: 0000-0002-5440-8621

ABDURRAHMAN İSKENDER: 0000-0001-8055-7869

AHMET USTA: 0000-0003-3149-9505

ALPER DOĞANCI: 0000-0003-1216-2667

DOI

10.55730/1300-0144.6400

Keywords

musculoskeletal diseases, occupational health, posture, Quality of life, sitting position, workplace

First Page

1546

Last Page

1555

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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