Economic Evaluations of Physical Exercise at Work: A Scoping Review.

Authors

Juan Andres Pozzi, Louise Fleng Sandal, Brent D Leininger, Morgan Young, Eric J Roseen, Tina Dalager, Mette Jensen Stochkendahl

Published in

Journal of occupational rehabilitation. Sep 15, 2026. Epub Sep 15, 2026.

Abstract

Despite the well-established positive benefits of physical activity and the recognised consequences of physical inactivity, evidence on its cost and cost-effectiveness remains inconclusive. This scoping review aims to descriptively summarise studies on economic evaluations of workplace physical exercise interventions from both employers and societal perspectives.
This review was conducted following the JBI and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. We included studies assessing economic evaluations of workplace physical exercise programmes from PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Medline, EBSCO, EconLit, The Tufts Medical Center Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry, and the NHS Economic Evaluation Database from January 2000 to March 2025. Screening, selection, and data extraction were independently performed by two researchers. Extracted data included study characteristics, population, intervention type, economic evaluation approach, outcomes, and main findings. Results are presented using summary tables along with narrative synthesis.
The search resulted in 5,007 unique records, of which we included 13 studies published between 2012 and 2025. Of these, most (n = 9) were randomised controlled trials. Occupational settings included sedentary and physically demanding jobs. Interventions included multicomponent programmes (n = 6) combining physical exercise with education, ergonomics, or nutritional guidance, and single-component programmes (n = 7) centred on strength training, stretching, and aerobic activities. Evaluations were conducted from multiple perspectives, reporting various health-related, work-related, and economic outcomes, including productivity, absenteeism, sickness absence, and compensation claims.
This review highlights substantial heterogeneity in the economic evaluations of workplace physical exercise interventions, regarding populations, interventions, methods, outcomes, and results. More high-quality research following standardised methodological guidance is needed to support future implementation and decision-making.

PMID:
42742905
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 16 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.