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Review
. 2020 Nov;21(11):e13101.
doi: 10.1111/obr.13101. Epub 2020 Jul 21.

Socio-economic inequalities in the effectiveness of workplace health promotion programmes on body mass index: An individual participant data meta-analysis

Suzan J W Robroek  1 , Karen M Oude Hengel  1   2 , Allard J van der Beek  3 , Cécile R L Boot  3 , Frank J van Lenthe  1 , Alex Burdorf  1 , Pieter Coenen  3
Affiliations
Review

Socio-economic inequalities in the effectiveness of workplace health promotion programmes on body mass index: An individual participant data meta-analysis

Suzan J W Robroek et al. Obes Rev. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

This individual participant data meta-analysis assessed the effectiveness of workplace health promotion programmes on body mass index (BMI) across socio-economic groups and whether study and intervention characteristics explained inequalities in effectiveness. Studies were eligible if they assessed the effect of a workplace health promotion programme on BMI in the Netherlands, included workers of at least two different socio-economic positions (SEPs) and had a study design with premeasurement and postmeasurement and control condition. Data of 13 studies presenting 16 interventions (5183 participants) were harmonized. In a two-stage meta-analysis, the interaction between intervention and SEP on BMI was tested with linear mixed models for each study. Subsequently, the interaction terms were pooled. The influence of study and intervention characteristics on the effectiveness of workplace health promotion programmes was evaluated using meta-regression analyses. Compared with control conditions, workplace health promotion programmes overall showed a statistically non-significant 0.12 kg/m2 (95% CI: -0.01, 0.25) decrease in BMI, which did not differ across SEP. Interventions evaluated within randomized controlled trials, agentic interventions, those that focused on high-risk groups, included a counselling component, consisted of more than five sessions, or were offered at the individual level did statistically significantly reduce BMI. No evidence was found for intervention-generated SEP inequalities.

Keywords: inequity; obesity; socio-economic inequalities; workplace.

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Conflict of interest statement

The institutions of the authors received one grant from Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) during the conduct of the study. Prof. Dr. A. J. van der Beek reports personal fees from spin‐off company Evalua Nederland B.V. and grants from Dutch National Social Security Agency outside the submitted work.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow chart of study inclusion process
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Individual study effects of workplace health promotion programmes on body mass index (BMI), stratified by socio‐economic position (SEP). *intervention * socio‐economic position interaction effects (p<0.05) for those with intermediate socio‐economic position compared with high socio‐economic position
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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