Breaking of Sitting Time Prevents Lower Leg Swelling
Condition: Edema Leg
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Sitting or standing during a prolonged and uninterrupted period of time is related to
      negative health outcomes, such as lower extremity swelling. It is unknown if interrupting
      sedentary behavior by including brief bouts of standing up to the sitting time can attenuate
      lower leg swelling. Thus, our purpose is to examine if breaking sitting time by adding
      sit-to-stand transitions attenuates or even prevents lower leg swelling, compared with
      uninterrupted motionless standing and uninterrupted motionless sitting, using localized
      bioelectrical impedance raw parameters.
    

Detailed description: 
      Increased sedentary behavior has deleterious effects on cognitive function, mental health,
      physical function, disability as well as quality-of-life. Nowadays, prolonged sitting time
      has been introduced into many situations such as transportation and in the workplace. Staying
      in the same position (e.g., sitting/standing) for a long and uninterrupted period is
      associated with poorer health-outcomes, increasing the risk for premature mortality. For
      instance, sitting for a long period of time has been associated with lower limbs edema. This
      condition causes discomfort and pain, in turn associated with a lower quality-of-life.

      The literature shows that interruption of prolonged sitting time has a positive impact in
      several health-related risk factors. However, no studies analyzed the effects of motionless
      sitting with brief standing bouts on lower leg swelling. Thus, the aim of this study is to
      examine and to compare the effects of standing, sitting and sit-to-stand transitions on lower
      leg swelling using localized bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) measurements A crossover
      randomized experiment was performed among 20 healthy individuals [age: 27.5±5.9y, 47%
      females]. In this study, the participants performed the 3 conditions (randomly ordered): 1)
      uninterrupted motionless standing; 2) uninterrupted motionless sitting; 3) sit-to-stand
      transitions (1 minute sitting followed by 1 minute standing). Before each condition, a 10-min
      resting period was performed. Total fat and fat-free mass were determined by dual-energy
      x-ray absorptiometry. Localized resistance (R), reactance (Xc), impedance (Z) and phase angle
      (PhA) were assessed at the baseline, at 10 min and at 20 min for each condition.

      The researchers hypothesized that interrupting a prolonged sitting position with sit-to-stand
      transitions will result in greater muscle pump, preventing lower leg swelling.
    

Intervention name(s): Uninterrupted motionless standing; Uninterrupted motionless sitting; Sit-to-stand transitions
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Participants remained 20 minutes of uninterrupted motionless standing; Participants remained 20 minutes of uninterrupted motionless sitting; 20 minutes of sit-to-stand transitions (1 minute sitting with 1 minute standing)
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Bioimpedance; Raw BIA parameters; Extracellular water expansion; Sedentary behaviour