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 Indeed, there has been very little research testing whether people
using the desks spend less time sitting, or if they do, whether that
improves their mental or physical health, researchers say.
"There was some evidence that people sit less and stand more" if
they have height-adjustable workstations, said Garry Tew, a research
fellow at the University of York in the UK who led the study.
But, he told Reuters Health by email, his team's study found little
good evidence that the reductions in sitting time resulted in health
benefits, such as reduced weight and reduced cardiovascular risk.
Sitting for long periods of time has been linked to an increased
risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer and early death, even among
people who exercise regularly. Yet employees in administrative and
professional/managerial occupations often sit for more than
three-quarters of their total time at work, the study authors note.
Strategies are needed to help reduce the amount of time people spend
at their desks sitting, Tew said, because in theory it would benefit
different aspects of health, and potentially have a positive effect
on productivity.
For the analysis, published in Occupational Medicine, Tew and his
team looked at some 9,000 studies and identified just five that
compared office workers who used height-adjustable desks to those
who didn’t.
All five studies reported that using height-adjustable workstations
reduced workplace sitting time. But all were small, involving at
most 44 people, and all might have been biased in favor of finding
benefits.
As a result, Tew’s team writes, they were unable to reach any
conclusions about the effects of the desks.
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"The health benefits of less time spent sitting depend on what you
replace the sitting time with, for example, standing, light
movement, moderate activity, vigorous activity," Tew said, adding
that in the workplace context, it is likely more feasible to
displace sitting time with standing or light activity.
"In my opinion, standing is probably only marginally better than
sitting, and . . . moderate-to-vigorous purposeful exercise is a
much better strategy for improving general fitness and health," he
said. "So, with all other aspects of lifestyle remaining unchanged,
installing a height adjustable workstation will likely have minimal
effects on important health outcomes and is highly unlikely to be an
effective weight loss promotion strategy."
Tew noted, however, that there may be other benefits of using the
adjustable workstations. For example, they allow workers to change
posture regularly, and that may help avoid musculoskeletal problems
from prolonged sitting.
"However, again there is currently little good evidence that using
these devices benefits musculoskeletal health in both the short and
long term," Tew cautioned.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1TeCgnh Occupational Medicine, online May 1,
2015.
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