Use of sit-stand stations during the first 2 months after their introduction

• Background. There is increasing evidence that sedentary behaviour during the workday is associated with negative health effects. In this context, interventions to reduce total sedentary time and breaking up periods of continuous sitting during computerized office work are urgently needed. Several reviews conclude that introducing sit-stand stations may lead to positive effects, but they also state that long-term interventions in real occu-pational settings are still rare. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate usage of sit-stand tables among Brazilian office workers during an intervention lasting two months.Methods.Nine office workers (6 females, 3 males; age 42 [SD 12] years) participated. The workers received traditional sit-stand tables and ergonomics information. They then used the workstation for two months. The tables were furnished with a system that recorded and kept track of table use during the intervention period. Table use early and late in the intervention period was compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for repeated measurements.Results. In the beginning of the eight-week intervention period, workers, in median, changed table position 2.4 (1.9 – 4.7) times per day, decreasing to 2.3 (1.0 – 3.3) times at the end (P=0.09). Moreover, we also found a non-significant decrease in total time stand-ing per day, from 88.6 (67.4 – 94.3) minutes to 58.8 (33.1 – 95.7) minutes (P=0.31).Discussion. Two months after introducing sit-stand tables, some decrease in usage could be seen, if not statistically significant. Based on this, we emphasize that introduction of sit-stand tables should be accompanied by continued encouragement of the workers, preferably informed by a personalized follow up of actual use.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Health and Environmental Health (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

sedentary behaviour

health effects

sit-stand stations

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)