Multicomponent Intervention Can Reduce Sitting Time at Work

FRIDAY, Oct. 12, 2018 (HealthDay News) — A multicomponent intervention (Stand More At [SMArT] Work) can reduce sitting time over the short, medium, and long terms, according to a study published online Oct. 10 in The BMJ.

Charlotte L. Edwardson, Ph.D., from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the impact of the SMArT intervention (designed to reduce sitting time) on changes in occupational, daily, and prolonged sitting, standing, and work-related and psychological health. A total of 146 desk-based workers were randomized to the intervention (77 participants) or control (69 participants).

The researchers found that at 12 months, there were significant differences between the groups in favor of the intervention group in occupational sitting time (−83.28 minutes/workday). Differences between the groups in favor of the intervention group were seen for occupational sitting time at three and six months (−50.62 and −64.40 minutes/workday, respectively) and in daily sitting time at six and 12 months (−59.32 and −82.39 minutes/day, respectively). For prolonged sitting time, standing time, job performance, work engagement, occupational fatigue, sickness presenteeism, daily anxiety, and quality of life, group differences were seen in favor of the intervention group.

“The intervention also appeared to have a positive impact on musculoskeletal conditions and many work-related outcomes such as job performance, work engagement, occupational fatigue, and sickness presenteeism as well as being beneficial for psychological outcomes such as daily anxiety and quality of life,” the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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