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 resource intensive and knowledge about their impact is limited. Purpos...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4581 |
| _version_ | 1848744556681494528 |
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| author | Neuhaus, M. Healy, Genevieve Dunstan, D. Owen, N. Eakin, E. |
| author_facet | Neuhaus, M. Healy, Genevieve Dunstan, D. Owen, N. Eakin, E. |
| author_sort | Neuhaus, M. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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 resource 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-randomized controlled trial in three separate administrative units of the University of Queensland, 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 objectively 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 implications for workplaces targeting sitting time reductions. Clinical Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry 00363297. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:03:21Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-4581 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:03:21Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-45812017-09-13T14:46:23Z Workplace sitting and height-adjustable workstations: A randomized controlled trial Neuhaus, M. Healy, Genevieve Dunstan, D. Owen, N. Eakin, E. 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 resource 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-randomized controlled trial in three separate administrative units of the University of Queensland, 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 objectively 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 implications for workplaces targeting sitting time reductions. Clinical Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry 00363297. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4581 10.1016/j.amepre.2013.09.009 restricted |
| spellingShingle | Neuhaus, M. Healy, Genevieve Dunstan, D. Owen, N. Eakin, E. Workplace sitting and height-adjustable workstations: A randomized controlled trial |
| title | Workplace sitting and height-adjustable workstations: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_full | Workplace sitting and height-adjustable workstations: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_fullStr | Workplace sitting and height-adjustable workstations: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Workplace sitting and height-adjustable workstations: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_short | Workplace sitting and height-adjustable workstations: A randomized controlled trial |
| title_sort | workplace sitting and height-adjustable workstations: a randomized controlled trial |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4581 |