Effects of Installing Height-adjustable Workstations on Office Workers Workplace Sitting Time and Productivity

Sheffield Hallam University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Workplace Inactivity

Treatments: Device: Height-adjustable workstation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02932787

SHU-AWS-RCT

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study was to look at the effects that height-adjustable workstations on occupational sitting time and workplace productivity in office workers. Participants workplace activity (sitting, standing and walking) and productivity was measured before the installation of the height-adjustable workstations. Workplace activity and productivity were then measured four weeks after the installation of height-adjustable workstations. The results were compared to a control group who received no intervention whilst the intervention had the height-adjustable workstations.

Full description

Sedentary behaviour has been found to be ubiquitous within the workplace and due to the negative consequences of sedentary behaviour upon health, research has began to look at ways to reduce and interrupt sedentary behaviour.

Interventions that have introduced height-adjustable workstations into the workplace have been found to reduce sedentary behaviour. Some employees and employers are concerned that using height-adjustable workstations and trying to reduce workplace sedentary behaviour can lead to a loss of workplace productivity.

The present study looked at the effects of installing height-adjustable workstations on occupational sitting time and workplace productivity in desk-based workers. Workplace activity was measured objectively using ActivPal accelerometers and productivity was measured via self-report measures. Measurements took place at baseline and four weeks after receiving the height-adjustable workstation.

Enrollment: 31 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. age 18 to 65 years,
2. working ≥0.6 full time equivalents,
3. access to a work telephone and desktop computer with internet,
4. not pregnant,
5. no planned absence >1 week during the trial,
6. not chair-bound or uniquely impaired such that reducing occupational sitting time was not feasible,
7. no pre-existing musculoskeletal disorder.

Exclusion criteria

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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31 participants in 2 patient groups

Height-adjustable workstation

Experimental group

Description:

Participants received a height-adjustable workstation for four weeks

Treatment:

Device: Height-adjustable workstation

Control

No Intervention group