The effect of an active breaks intervention in healthcare workers in terms of improving physical and psychological wellbeing: a systematic review

Purpose: In the healthcare context, healthcare workers (HWs) face continuous pressure in managing medical care and providing ongoing care to patients. HWs often face long working hours, resulting in prolonged periods in which they maintain suboptimal posture, engage in repetitive tasks and face significant psychological and physical strain. In the last few years, different types of physical activity interventions aimed at improving the health and well-being of workers in the workplace have been implemented. Among these, possible interventions are Active Breaks (ABs). This study aims to examine the effects on well-being resulting from ABs interventions in HWs. The hypothesis is that integrating ABs into the daily routines of HWs could be a promising strategy to alleviate the negative physical and mental effects associated with demanding workloads. Methods: The systematic review method was conducted in accordance with the Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Metaanalyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Databases consulted were MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL (EBSCO), PsycINFO (EBSCO), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Web of Science (WOS), EMBASE. Quality assessment was performed in accordance with the JBI scale. Results: Out of 4272 identified articles, six studies were included in the systematic review. Five studies were performed on surgeons and one on the surgical intensive care unit. The duration of ABs intervention ranged from 10 s to 3 min. One study reported a positive trend but not statistically significant. In another article, on a single surgical procedure of less than 60 min duration, no positive effect of ABs was found. Two studies showed that the participants were interested in maintaining ABs as part of the workday. The other studies had shown positive effects on discomfort reduction (except for low-back and eyes) and stress, physical performance improvement, surgery accuracy and mental focus. Conclusions: Despite heterogeneous samples and interventions, this systematic review suggests positive effects of ABs on physical and mental well-being of HWs. However, additional research is required on specific categories of HWs to better understand the effects of ABs.