Article

Does the use of standing 'hot' desks change sedentary work time in an open plan office?

Details

Citation

Gilson ND, Suppini A, Ryde G, Brown HE & Brown WJ (2012) Does the use of standing 'hot' desks change sedentary work time in an open plan office?. Preventive Medicine, 54 (1), pp. 65-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.10.012

Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study assessed the use of standing 'hot' desks in an open plan office and their impact on sedentary work time. METHOD Australian employees (n=11; 46.9 [9.8] years; BMI 25.9 [3.5 kg/m(2)]) wore an armband accelerometer for two consecutive working weeks (November-December 2010). In the second week, employees were encouraged to use a pod of four standing 'hot' desks to stand and work as often as possible. Desk use was recorded using time logs. The percentages of daily work time spent in sedentary (<1.6 METs), light (1.6-3.0 METs) and moderate+ (>3 METs) intensity categories were calculated for each week, relative to the total daily time at work. Paired sample t tests were used to compare weekly differences. RESULTS Employees spent 8:09 ± 0:31h/day at work and 'hot' desk use ranged from zero to 9:35 h for the week. There were no significant changes in mean time spent in sedentary (difference of -0.1%), light (difference of 0.8%) and moderate+ (-0.7%) intensity categories. However, individual changes in sedentary work time ranged from -5.9 to 6.4%. CONCLUSIONS Volitional use of standing 'hot' desks varied and while individual changes were apparent, desk use did not alter overall sedentary work time in this sample.

Keywords
Standing desks; Sedentary work time; Accelerometers; Open plan office

Journal
Preventive Medicine: Volume 54, Issue 1

StatusPublished
Publication date31/01/2012
URLhttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/20638
PublisherElsevier
ISSN0091-7435