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USE OF SIT-TO- STAND WORKSTATIONS: IMPACT ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Abstract

Shiann Wickham, Catherine Patrick, Larissa Boyd, Melissa Powers University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Oklahoma

Prolonged sitting affects daily total physical activity. Standing in order to break long periods of sitting may be beneficial to an individual’s health. PURPOSE: The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether physical activity would change when using a sit-to-stand workstation in a workplace environment. METHOD: Volunteers from the faculty of the University of Central Oklahoma included apparently healthy male and female adults (N = 11, M = 39.09± 10.445 years). Participants were asked to use sit-to-stand workstations for a minimum of three hours per workday. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to measure self-reported daily physical activity. RESULTS: Dependent t-tests were used to analyze changes in self-reported physical activity over 5 months. Non-significant (p>.05), meaningful improvements were seen in METmin/wk for walking (d=.19), total physical activity (d=.14), moderate activity (d=.01), and vigorous activity (d=.02). Total minutes of sit time per week (d=.25) and average daily minutes sitting (d=.25) decreased (p>.05). CONCLUSION: Sit-to-stand workstations do provide an increase in daily physical activity levels. Although the results were non-significant, they do indicate a small decrease in time spent sitting along with small improvements in walking and total physical activity. Decreasing employee sitting time can increase the amount of physical activity achieved throughout the day. Future research should evaluate the use of sit-to-stand workstations in a larger, more diverse group of employees.

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