Abstract
Introduction: Desk-based office workers are at occupational risk for poor health outcomes from excessive time spent sitting. Sit-stand workstations are used to mitigate sitting, but lack of workstation usage has been observed. Point-of-choice (PoC) prompts offer a complementary strategy for office workers to break up their sitting time.Study purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the preliminary efficacy, preference, and acceptability of a theory-driven (i.e., 40 unique prompts encompassing social cognitive theory; TD-PoC) and an atheoretical basic reminder PoC prompt intervention (R-PoC) on reducing sedentary behavior in office workers with self-reported low sit-stand workstation usage (≤4 h per day).Methods: In a cross-over design, participants (N = 19, 78.9% female, 39.4 ± 10.7 years of age) completed a 5-days no-prompt control condition followed by a random and counterbalanced assignment to one of the TD-PoC and R-PoC active conditions with a 1-week washout period between. Preliminary efficacy was assessed during work hours with the activPAL micro accelerometer. Preference was assessed prior to each active condition and acceptability was assessed following each active condition via questionnaire.Results: The R-PoC prompt condition significantly decreased sitting time (b[se] = −49.0 [20.8], p = 0.03) and increased standing time (b[se] = 49.8 [19.7], p = 0.02) and displayed a significant increase in sit-stand transitions (b[se] = 2.3 [1.1], p = 0.04), relative to no-prompt control. Both the R-PoC and TD-PoC prompt conditions significantly decreased time spent in prolonged sitting bouts at b[se] = −68.1 [27.8], (p = 0.02), (b[se] = −76.7 [27.1], p = 0.008) relative to no-prompt control. Overall, the TD-PoC prompt condition displayed higher preference and acceptability ratings; however, these differences were not significant (p's > 0.05).Conclusion: While the R-PoC prompt condition was slightly more efficacious than the TD-PoC prompt condition, the TD-PoC prompt condition was rated with higher preference and acceptability scores. Large variations between participants in preference, acceptability, and intervention feedback may indicate need for tailored messaging which may facilitate sustained use in the long-term.
Highlights
Desk-based office workers are at occupational risk for poor health outcomes from excessive time spent sitting
The purpose of this study was to examine the preliminary efficacy, preference, and acceptability, of two PoC prompt interventions relative to no-prompt control for reducing sedentary behaviors in office workers with suboptimal utilization of their sit-stand workstations. Both prompt types appeared efficacious for reducing sedentary time and increasing standing time overall, a slight trend appeared toward greater efficacy for the reminder PoC prompt intervention (R-PoC) prompt condition for total sitting time, and the TD-PoC prompt condition for reducing prolonged bouts of sitting
While no significant differences between the two PoC prompt conditions were observed, the effect sizes provide both content and temporal insights that may inform future workplace sedentary behavior reduction PoC Overall, preference was slightly better for TD-PoC than R-PoC and acceptability met the 70% benchmark for some but not all metrics for TD-PoC and R-PoC prompt conditions
Summary
Desk-based office workers are at occupational risk for poor health outcomes from excessive time spent sitting. Desk-based occupations confine office workers to a seated position during the working day [1] of which 70–80% of work time is spent seated [2]. Interrupting sedentary time with bouts of standing An increasingly popular strategy to reduce workplace sedentary behavior is the use of sit-stand workstations, which provide desk-based office workers with the opportunity to alternate between seated and standing positions throughout the day [16]. Avoiding prolonged bouts of sitting [18] and sustaining frequent sitstand workstation use over time continues to be a challenge due to the habitual nature of sitting in the workplace [19]
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