Non-significant changes were reported for most health- and work-related outcomes .
Findings suggest that activity-permissive workstations can be effective to reduce occupational sedentary time , without compromising work performance .
Excessive sedentary time is detrimentally linked to obesity , type 2 diabetes , cardiovascular disease and premature mortality .
Studies have been investigating the use of activity-permissive workstations to reduce sedentary time in office workers , a highly sedentary target group .
This review systematic ally summarizes the evidence for activity-permissive workstations on sedentary time , health-risk biomarkers , work performance and feasibility indicators in office workplaces .
Workplace sitting and height-adjustable workstations: a randomized controlled trial.
BACKGROUND Desk-based office employees sit for most of their working day . To address excessive sitting as a newly identified health risk , best practice frameworks suggest a multi-component approach . However , these approaches are re source intensive and knowledge about their impact is limited . PURPOSE To compare the efficacy of a multi-component intervention to reduce workplace sitting time , to a height-adjustable workstations-only intervention , and to a comparison group ( usual practice ) . DESIGN Three-arm quasi-r and omized controlled trial in three separate administrative units of the University of Queensl and , Brisbane , Australia . Data were collected between January and June 2012 and analyzed the same year . SETTING / PARTICIPANTS Desk-based office workers aged 20 - 65 ( multi-component intervention , n=16 ; workstations-only , n=14 ; comparison , n=14 ) . INTERVENTION The multi-component intervention comprised installation of height-adjustable workstations and organizational-level ( management consultation , staff education , manager e-mails to staff ) and individual-level ( face-to-face coaching , telephone support ) elements . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Workplace sitting time ( minutes/8-hour workday ) assessed objective ly via activPAL3 devices worn for 7 days at baseline and 3 months ( end-of-intervention ) . RESULTS At baseline , the mean proportion of workplace sitting time was approximately 77 % across all groups ( multi-component group 366 minutes/8 hours [ SD=49 ] ; workstations-only group 373 minutes/8 hours [ SD=36 ] , comparison 365 minutes/8 hours [ SD=54 ] ) . Following intervention and relative to the comparison group , workplace sitting time in the multi-component group was reduced by 89 minutes/8-hour workday ( 95 % CI=-130 , -47 minutes ; p<0.001 ) and 33 minutes in the workstations-only group ( 95 % CI=-74 , 7 minutes , p=0.285 ) . CONCLUSIONS A multi-component intervention was successful in reducing workplace sitting . These findings may have important practical and financial implication s for workplaces targeting sitting time reductions . CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION Australian New Zeal and Clinical Trials Registry 00363297
Non-significant changes were reported for most health- and work-related outcomes .
Findings suggest that activity-permissive workstations can be effective to reduce occupational sedentary time , without compromising work performance .
Excessive sedentary time is detrimentally linked to obesity , type 2 diabetes , cardiovascular disease and premature mortality .
Studies have been investigating the use of activity-permissive workstations to reduce sedentary time in office workers , a highly sedentary target group .
This review systematic ally summarizes the evidence for activity-permissive workstations on sedentary time , health-risk biomarkers , work performance and feasibility indicators in office workplaces .