The impact of health education intervention on knowledge, attitude, and practice of office workers about office ergonomics: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Ergonomics is fundamental to improving safety and efficiency in offices. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a health education intervention on office workers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding ergonomics and to determine their predictors. Methods: For this intervention study, 230 office workers were split into two equal groups. A validated KAP office ergonomics questionnaire and a health education intervention were given to the intervention group, while the control group only received the questionnaire. Three months later, both groups received a post-test questionnaire. Results: The post-test KAP scores of the intervention group were significantly higher than those of the control group (37.2 versus 30.9, 23.4 versus 28.3, and 17.0 versus 10.3, respectively, P < 0.05). Workers’ office ergonomics knowledge, attitude, and practice scores significantly improved following the health education intervention (P < 0.05). Adequate knowledge and a positive attitude were significantly predicted by being younger (adjusted OR: 7.8 and 10.7), having a high level of education (adjusted OR: 8.9 and 2.5), using a computer (adjusted OR: 7.0 and 5.0), working long hours on a computer (adjusted OR: 3.1 and 3.0), and having a short job duration (adjusted OR: 5.2 and 12.3) within the intervention group. There was a significant positive correlation between the knowledge and practice scores (r = 0.469, P < 0.05). Conclusions: The outcomes of the study demonstrated that office workers who received health education had significantly enhanced their KAP after a three-month follow-up. This highlights the importance of office workers’ ergonomics education to ensure workplace safety and improve their well-being and productivity. Trial registration: The study was retrospectively registered at the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (PACTR) (ID: PACTR202604893125732) on 29 April 2026.