Seven year follow-up of employee fitness program
Leatt, P.; Hattin, H.; West, C.; Shephard, R.J.
Canadian Journal of Public Health 79(1): 20-25
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0008-4263 PMID: 3355962 Document Number: 323271
The long-term impact of an employee fitness program has been evaluated at the Canada Life Assurance Company. Seven years after initiation of the program, a 29-item questionnaire was distributed to all employees. A blood lipid profile was obtained on 100% enthusiasts identified by the program coordinator (34F, 30M). Fifty program enthusiasts (25F, 25M) also repeated the physiological tests undertaken at entry to the program seven years earlier. Questionnaire responses were obtained from a total of 511 employees; 392 of these had participated in the classes at some stage. However, 170 now classed themselves as "drop-outs", and only 156 subjects saw their exercise class attendance as remaining the same or improving. Defection seemed to follow a semi-logarithmic curve, with a median time of 20 weeks participation. Waning enthusiasm was reflected in an absence of difference in HDL cholesterol between continuing class members and non-participants. Moreover, the enthusiastic participants had on average lost lean mass, muscle strength and aerobic power over the seven years, while increasing total body mass and skinfold thickness. Absenteeism and health-care usage was less in continuing program participants than in drop-outs, but this seemed to reflect medical reasons for defection from classes. One apparent continuing advantage was a lesser turnover among participants (16.9 versus 25.0%). A second encouraging feature of the survey was an increased involvement of program members in community exercise programs. We conclude that employee fitness programs develop exercise awareness, but may lack the intensity and the duration to have a major impact upon fitness scores.