Standing vs. Sitting-Office Ergonomics…A Study of the Health Benefits

Many office workers spend the majority of their workday seated, which may have adverse effects on their health. To address these concerns, a research study was conducted to assess the health benefits of standing versus sitting for office workers. The objectives of this study were to explore whether a standing desk intervention could address public health concerns associated with a sedentary lifestyle that is prevalent in the office work environment; a lifestyle that has been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and musculoskeletal issues. Over a span of eight weeks, 20 office workers from the Houston area were recruited and assigned to either a controlled sitting desk group or an experimental standing desk group. Onesample t-tests were used to assess changes and differences in weight, BMI, blood pressure, heart rate, and musculoskeletal discomfort in both groups from week 0 to week 4, and again from week 0 to week 8. The data showed that while there was no significant difference between the two groups on all categories for week 0 and week 4, it did show there is a significant improvement on musculoskeletal discomfort for the group who stood more. A greater improvement in blood pressure was significant for the standing group from week 0 to week 8. This showed benefits of standing desks in terms of measurable objective health outcomes.