Sedentary behaviour research in adults: A scoping review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses

ABSTRACT

Sedentary behaviour research is rapidly growing. Scoping reviews are important to inform policy and practice.The aim of this scoping a review was to map the available evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of sedentary behaviour research on adults (≥18 years), within the phases of the behavioural epidemiology framework, and to identify bibliometric parameters of studies included in this review. Nine bibliographic databases were searched. Studies were screened and relevant information (e.g., general information, inclusion criteria, findings and reporting quality) was extracted independently by two authors. In total, 108 systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses of sedentary behaviour research in adults (≥18 years) were included. Most papers (91.7%) were published between 2010 and 2020. Studies on the relationship of sedentary behaviour with health (53.7%) and interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour (25.9%) were most common. Forty-five (41.7%) studies reported quality assessment with categorization, and 887 out of 1268 (70%) included primary studies were categorized having moderate-to-high quality. Sedentary behaviour research on adults (≥18 years) has grown exponentially in the last decade and demonstrates strength in several stages of the behavioural epidemiology framework. However, more research should focus on the measurement, prevalence/epidemiology and determinants of sedentary behaviour, to better inform policy development.

KEYWORDS:

• Behavioural epidemiology
• bibliometrics
• health behaviour
• sitting time
• systematic review

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Professor Jo Salmon (Deakin University, Australia), Professor Stuart J Biddle (University of Southern Queensland, Australia), Professor Ulf Ekelund (Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norway), Professor Anthony D Okely (University of Wollongong, Australia), Associate Professor Travis Saunders (University of Prince Edward Island, Canada), Associate Professor Brigid Lynch (University of Queensland, Australia), Professor Marc Hamilton (University of Houston, USA) and Professor Mark Tremblay (University of Ottawa, Canada) for their input about the first peer-reviewed journal publication on sedentary behaviour and for improving the search strategy used for this study. We would like to pay special thanks to Professor Neville Owen (Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia) for his input for improving the search strategy used and suggesting literature related to this study.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

The authors do not have any financial or non-financial conflict of interests. SS is supported by an Early Career Fellowship from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (GNT1125586) and a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Heart Foundation of Australia (Award ID: 101,240). SA is supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Heart Foundation of Australia (Award ID: 102,609).

Ethics approval

This article does involve identifiable data of human participants or animals, and therefore does not require ethical approval.

Consent to participate and consent for publication

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Data availability statement

All the data have been presented in the paper and in the supplementary material.

Authors’ contributions

ARM contributed to study conception, database searches, article screening, data extraction, data presentation/analysis, write-up and revision; RS contributed to article screening, data extraction, and revision; QT contributed to article screening, data extraction, and revision; SS contributed to article screening, data extraction, and revision; AU contributed to article screening, data extraction, and revision; SA contributed to article screening, data extraction, and revision; MH contributed to article screening, data extraction, and revision; CV contributed to article screening, data extraction, write-up and revision. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Availability of data and material

All the data have been presented in the paper and in the supplementary material.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2021.1928382.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.