Focused Strategies to Optimize Sleep, Reduce Sedentary Behaviour, and Enhance Incidental Physical ActivityNUS HealthNCT07887269
NUS Health Study: Improving Sleep, Sedentariness and Physical Activity in NUS Staff
A study testing NUS Health Prog in people with Focused Strategies to Optimize Sleep, Reduce Sedentary Behaviour, and Enhance Incidental Physical Activity, run by National University of Singapore at 1 site in Singapore.
Trial summary
'NUS Health' is a workplace-embedded health program for National University of Singapore (NUS) staff that concurrently targets sleep, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity. The intervention adopts a multilevel socioecological approach, integrating individual, social, environmental, and organisational strategies… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 21 to 70 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Focused Strategies to Optimize Sleep, Reduce Sedentary Behaviour, and Enhance Incidental Physical Activity
- What is being tested?
- NUS Health Prog
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 2,000 participants
- Where
- 1 siteSingapore
- Study dates
- 1 Sep 2026to Sep 2029
- Phase
- Interventional
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 21 to 70 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Full time NUS staff
- Willing to undergo blood draw procedure
Who cannot join
- Staff who tender their resignation from NUS during the 16-month study period will be discontinued from the study.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Singapore1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
National University of Singapore
Singapore, 117549
Michael Chee, +65 66015238, michael.chee@nus.edu.sg
About this study
'NUS Health' is a workplace-embedded health program for National University of Singapore (NUS) staff that concurrently targets sleep, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity. The intervention adopts a multilevel socioecological approach, integrating individual, social, environmental, and organisational strategies to support sustainable behaviour change.
The study team will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of this program in improving sleep and movement behaviours, with anticipated downstream benefits for cardiometabolic health, psychological well-being, and workplace productivity. Findings from this study will inform the development of future institution-wide health initiatives and contribute to the evidence base for integrated workplace interventions targeting multiple lifestyle risk factors simultaneously.
Read the detailed description
'NUS Health' is a workplace-embedded health program for National University of Singapore (NUS) staff that concurrently targets sleep, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity. The intervention adopts a multilevel socioecological approach, integrating individual, social, environmental, and organisational strategies to support sustainable behaviour change.
This program was developed in response to findings from our previous study of NUS staff which revealed high levels of sedentary behaviour (>10 hours/day) and an obesity prevalence of approximately 25%, highlighting a substantial opportunity for workplace-based health promotion. These findings emerged alongside the growing national burden of chronic conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes, which are strongly influenced by modifiable lifestyle behaviours including insufficient sleep, prolonged sedentary behaviour, and inadequate physical activity. Although these behaviours frequently co-occur and interact to influence health outcomes, existing intervention approaches remain largely episodic, clinic-based, and focused on individual risk factors, limiting their scalability, sustainability, and effectiveness in real-world settings. Increasing evidence indicates that interventions addressing behavioural determinants across both individual and organisational levels are more likely to achieve meaningful and sustained improvements in health. Together, these considerations informed the development of a multicomponent, workplace-embedded intervention designed to simultaneously improve sleep, reduce sedentary behaviour, and promote physical activity among NUS staff.
By combining real-time behavioural monitoring, personalised digital feedback, social engagement, and organisational change, the program seeks to establish a scalable and sustainable model for workplace health promotion. Leveraging continuous wearable-derived data, participants will receive personalised behavioural targets and feedback based on their own activity and sleep patterns. These will be complemented by a socially oriented incentive framework and institution-wide health promotion strategies embedded within the workplace environment, enabling healthy behaviours to be supported not only at the individual level but also through organisational culture and practices.
This 16-month study will be divided into three distinct phases: baseline (months 1-4), intervention (months 5-10), and post-intervention (months 11-16). There will be 4 in-person visits in total for each participant: visit 1 (once within months 1-2), visit 2 (once within months 2-4), visit 3 (once within months 9-10) and visit 4 (once within months 15-16).
The study team will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of this program in improving sleep and movement behaviours, with anticipated downstream benefits for cardiometabolic health, psychological well-being, and workplace productivity.
Specifically, we will examine how changes in sleep, sedentariness, and physical activity, affect:
Sleep: frequency of short sleep nights, sleep onset time, sleep duration, sleep variability, sleep satisfaction Sendentariness: amount of sedentary time daily and its temporal distribution Physical activity: amount of daily light-intensity physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA) and its temporal distribution Cardiometabolic markers: glucose trends, blood pressure, body roundness index, blood markers of cardiometabolic health (e.g., blood lipids, Hba1c) Bio-aging markers: blood count, liver panel, renal panel, CRP, etc.
Findings from this study will inform the development of future institution-wide health initiatives and contribute to the evidence base for integrated workplace interventions targeting multiple lifestyle risk factors simultaneously.
- Being tested
- NUS Health Prog
- Keywords
- Sedentariness, Physical Activity, Sleep, Workplace Intervention
- Medical subject headings
- Motor Activity
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
NUS Health ProgBehavioural
For the sleep component, personalised goals will focus on reducing or maintaining a low frequency of short sleep nights and, where appropriate, advancing sleep timing among individuals with delayed sleep schedules. Goals will be tailored to each participant using their biometric data.
For the sedentariness component, personalised goals will focus on reducing daily sedentary time, with an overall target of approximately 8 hours per day or less.
For the physical activity component, personalised goals will focus on increasing or maintaining moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Experimental | The intervention involves the concurrent implementation of strategies to optimize sleep, reduce sedentary behaviour, and enhance incidental physical activity through an workplace embedded health promotion program. Participants will receive personalised goals and feedback based on their wearable-derived biometric data. An incentive system will be used to encourage engagement with the intervention and study procedures. Receives: Behavioral: NUS Health Prog |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Sendentariness, via OURA ring
Amount of sedentary time daily, as measured by the OURA ring's sedentariness metric (energy expenditure of 1.5 metabolic equivalents (METs) or less ).
Measured: Through study completion, daily, an average of 2 years
Moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA), via OURA ring
Amount of daily moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA), as measured by the OURA ring.
Measured: Through study completion, daily, an average of 2 years
Light-intensity physical activity (LPA), via OURA ring
Amount of daily light-intensity physical activity (LPA), as measured by the OURA ring.
Measured: Through study completion, daily, an average of 2 years
Sleep duration, via OURA ring
Sleep duration as measured by the OURA ring.
Measured: Through study completion, daily, an average of 2 years
Sleep duration variability
The dispersion of daily sleep duration values around a participant's personal average.
Measured: Through study completion, an average of 2 years
Sleep onset time, via OURA ring
Sleep onset time as measured by the OURA ring.
Measured: Through study completion, daily, an average of 2 years
Sleep onset variability
The dispersion of daily sleep onset timing values around a participant's personal average.
Measured: Through study completion, an average of 2 years
Glucose trends across 2 weeks
Measured via Continuous Glucose Monitor
Measured: 2 weeks measurement period at baseline; subsequently at 9 months, and 15 months after baseline measurement
Full blood count
Measured via venous blood collection
Measured: At baseline; subsequently 9 months, and 15 months after baseline measurement
Liver panel
Measured via venous blood collection
Measured: At baseline; subsequently at 9 months, and 15 months after baseline measurement
Renal panel
Measured via venous blood collection
Measured: At baseline; subsequently at 9 months, and 15 months after baseline measurement
Iron studies
Measured via venous blood collection
Measured: At baseline; subsequently at 9 months, and 15 months after baseline measurement
Urine panel
Measured via urine collection
Measured: At baseline; subsequently at 9 months, and 15 months after baseline measurement
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted21 Oct 2026
- Study start1 Sep 2026
- Primary completionJan 2029 (estimated)
- Study completionSep 2029 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Focused Strategies to Optimize Sleep, Reduce Sedentary Behaviour, and Enhance Incidental Physical ActivityStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Model description
- The intervention involves the concurrent implementation of strategies to optimize sleep, reduce sedentary behaviour, and enhance incidental physical activity through an workplace embedded health promotion program. Participants will receive personalised goals and feedback based on their wearable-derived biometric data. An incentive system will be used to encourage engagement with the intervention and study procedures.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 2,000 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- National University of Singapore
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Michael W.L. Chee, National University of Singapore
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07887269
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- NUS Health
- Acronym
- NUS Health
- Status last verified
- Oct 2026
- First submitted
- 7 Oct 2026
- Last updated
- 21 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Pereira MA, Mullane SL, Toledo MJL, Larouche ML, Rydell SA, Vuong B, Feltes LH, Mitchell NR, de Brito JN, Hasanaj K, Carlson NG, Gaesser GA, Crespo NC, Oakes JM, Buman MP. Efficacy of the 'Stand and Move at Work' multicomponent workplace intervention to reduce sedentary time and improve cardiometabolic risk: a group randomized clinical trial. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020 Oct 27;17(1):133. doi: 10.1186/s12966-020-01033-3.
PubMed 33109190