Abstract
BackgroundProlonged sitting time is detrimental for health. Individuals with desk-based occupations tend to sit a great deal and sit-stand workstations have been identified as a potential strategy to reduce sitting time. Hence, the objective of the current study was to examine the effects of using sit-stand workstations on office workers’ sitting time at work and over the whole day.MethodsWe conducted a randomized controlled trial pilot with crossover design and waiting list control in Sydney, Australia from September 2011 to July 2012 (n = 42; 86% female; mean age 38 ± 11 years). Participants used a sit-stand workstation for four weeks in the intervention condition. In the time-matched control condition, participants received nothing and crossed over to the intervention condition after four weeks. The primary outcomes, sitting, standing and walking time at work, were assessed before and after using the workstations with ActivPALs and self-report questionnaires. Secondary outcomes, domain-specific sitting over the whole day, were assessed by self-report. Linear mixed models estimated changes in outcomes adjusting for measurement time, study grouping and covariates.ResultsIntervention participants significantly reduced objectively assessed time spent sitting at work by 73 min/workday (95% CI: −106,-39) and increased standing time at work by 65 min/workday (95% CI: 47, 83); these changes were significant relative to controls (p = 0.004 and p < 0.001, respectively). Total sitting time significantly declined in intervention participants (−80 min/workday; 95% CI: −155, −4).ConclusionsThis study shows that introducing sit-stand workstations in the office can reduce desk-based workers’ sitting time at work in the short term. Larger scale studies on more representative samples are needed to determine the public health impact of sit-stand workstations.Trial registrationACTRN12612000072819Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-014-0127-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
High amounts of time spent in sedentary behaviour have been linked with increased risk for a range of health outcomes including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
Three participants, who were missing age or Body Mass Index (BMI) values, were not included in the analyses. Imputing values for these missing covariate values did not influence the effect of the intervention on the adjusted estimates for the outcomes, nor did it change the effects age or BMI had on the outcome
These results are consistent with those from previous sit-stand workstation intervention studies which found that sitting time at work significantly decreased in the sit-stand workstation intervention versus a comparison condition: on average, reductions in work time sitting of 66 min/day by self-report [26], and ranged from 33 min/day to 143 min/day by objective measurement [23,25,27]
Summary
High amounts of time spent in sedentary behaviour have been linked with increased risk for a range of health outcomes including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Public health focused research has examined sit-stand desks as tools for reducing sitting time with the aim of preventing chronic illness [22]. Five recent intervention studies [23,24,25,26,27], and one natural experiment [28] have examined the impact of using sit-stand workstations on desk-based workers’ sitting time in office settings with promising results. Individuals with desk-based occupations tend to sit a great deal and sit-stand workstations have been identified as a potential strategy to reduce sitting time. The objective of the current study was to examine the effects of using sit-stand workstations on office workers’ sitting time at work and over the whole day
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