IMPROVEMENT OF REACTION TIME AFTER A WORKPLACE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INTERVENTION

ABSTRACT Introduction Work activities have been occupying an increasing amount of time in the daily lives of the population, making individuals less physically active. A job market strategy is to invest in physical exercise programs in the actual workplace to improve the physical and cognitive aspects of these employees. Objective To verify the effects of a workplace physical exercise program on the simple and choice reaction times of public university employees. Methods Twenty-six physically inactive male and female subjects with a mean age of 29.62 ± 6.47 years underwent a program consisting of thirty-six sessions with physical exercises in the workplace, held three times a week over twelve weeks. Simple reaction time (SRT) and choice reaction time (CRT) were assessed before and after the intervention, using the Vienna Test System®, and the results were presented in: I) reaction time, II) movement time; and (III) response time. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted using the statistical program SPSS® (version 21.0 for Windows), with a significance level of 5%. Results When observing the SRT and CRT variables before and after the experiment, we noticed an improvement in reaction time, movement time and response time in the experimental group but not in the control group. Conclusion The workplace physical exercise program was able to reduce the SRT and CRT of the experimental group. Level of evidence I; randomized clinical trial.摘要 引言：工作活动在民众日常生活中占据的时长日益增加，导致民众的身体活动量愈发减少。当前职场健康策略之一，便是在实际工作场所推广体育锻炼项目，以改善员工的躯体与认知状态。 研究目的：本研究旨在验证职场体育锻炼项目对公立高校员工简单反应时（Simple Reaction Time, SRT）与选择反应时（Choice Reaction Time, CRT）的影响。 研究方法：本研究纳入26名身体活动不足的男女受试者，平均年龄为29.62±6.47岁。所有受试者均参与为期12周、每周3次的职场体育锻炼项目，共计36个训练场次。干预前后，采用维也纳测试系统（Vienna Test System®）评估受试者的简单反应时与选择反应时，评估指标包括：I）反应时、II）运动时以及III）应答时。采用SPSS统计软件（SPSS®，Windows版本21.0）进行描述性与推断性统计分析，显著性水准设为5%。 研究结果：对比实验前后的SRT与CRT相关变量，本研究发现实验组的反应时、运动时与应答时均得到改善，而对照组未出现此类变化。 研究结论：本研究表明，职场体育锻炼项目可降低实验组受试者的SRT与CRT。本研究证据等级为I级，属于随机对照临床试验。