Description of the main outcomes and other measurements of the study
| Measurement item | Assesment scale |
| Musculoskeletal pain and activity limitations | |
| Intensity of neck/low back pain in the past month23 | Visual Analogue Scale: 0–100 mm |
| Frequency of neck/low back pain in the last 4 weeks17 | 0=no pain; 1=now and then; 2=most days of week, but not daily; 3=daily |
| Radiating pain: from neck to arm/lower back to leg17 | 0=no; 1=yes |
| Activity limitations due to neck/low back pain17 | 0=no; 1=yes |
| Perceived local musculoskeletal strain after the work day during the past month assessed for neck, shoulder, upper back, lower back, knee and hip38 | Numeric Rating Scale 0–6, with manikin illustrating the body regions: 0=not at all; 6=very much |
| Pain-related fear avoidance beliefs39 towards physical activity | Five standard questions with Numeric Rating Scale 0–6: 0=disagree; 6=quite agree; total score 0–30 |
| Health-related quality of life40 with Finnish reference values31 | RAND-36 Item Health Survey (RAND-36): score 0–100 for the eight subscores |
| Work Ability Index (WAI),41 Short Form | Total sum score of WAI Short Form: 3–27 |
| Current work ability compared with the lifetime best | Numeric Rating Scale 0–10: 0=not capable at all; 10=best possible |
| Work ability in relation to physical work demands | 1=very poor; 2=poor; 3=average; 4=good; 5=very good |
| Work ability in relation to mental work demands | |
| Personal prognosis of work ability 2 years from now | 1=hardly; 4=not sure; 7=almost certainly |
| Physical fitness tests | |
| Stand on one leg for static balance*42 | Score 0–60 s (best of 2 trials) |
| Neck-shoulder mobility (sagittal movement)*42 | Sum score (2–6) right + left sides: 1=severe limitation; 2=some limitation; 3=no limitation |
| Trunk side-bending for spinal flexibility*42 | Mean of right and left side bending, cm |
| Modified push-ups for upper-body strength and ability during to stabilise trunk*42 | Number of correctly performed push-ups 40 s |
| Static squat against the wall | Endurance score 0–90 s |
| 6 min walk test43 | Distance walked in 15 m indoor track |
| Physical activity and sedentary behaviour | |
| Questionnaire developed to evaluate the fulfilment of current physical activity recommendations for health44 regarding aerobic and muscular type of activity | National Institute for Health, health and well-being for residents research forms: http://www.thl.fi/attachments/ATH/2013A1204_4.pdf |
| Objective assessment with accelerometer for 7 days (minimum of 4 days and 10 daily hours)24 25 | Waist-worn accelerometer (Hookie AM 20, Traxmeet, Espoo, Finland) using digital triaxial acceleration sensor (ADXL345; Analog Devices, Norwood, Massachusetts, USA) ±16 g |
*A test manual and video for fitness testing is available at http://www.ukkinstituutti.fi/en/alpha.