Two studies from the US and Australia have shown sit-stand desks can reduce lower back pain and discourage sedentary behaviour in a "real world" office environment without affecting productivity.
In the first study, Stanford University researchers provided sit-stand desks to 25 university employees who had chronic lower back pain and sat at work for at least six hours a day, and found they experienced a reduction in pain levels within a matter of days.
According to the researchers, more than three in four jobs in industrial countries required employees to sit for a long period of time, which was linked with lower back pain and other musculoskeletal disorders, and recent studies had found regular movement and varying seat posture decreased "most musculoskeletal symptoms" in workers.
They sought to determine whether sit-stand desks also improved lower back pain in office workers, and found that over 12 weeks, participants reported a 55 to 76 per cent reduction in pain levels – four times more than the decrease found in a control group with lower back pain.
The study found back pain started reducing about 15 days after the introduction of the sit-stand desk, and the probability of a worker reporting a pain-free day increased to 80 per cent after 12 weeks.
The researchers also found the use of sit-stand desks reduced overall sitting time among office employees.
This outcome was echoed by a new University of Sydney study, which found call-centre workers provided with sit-stand desks decreased their sitting time by 64 to 100 minutes per workday, without adversely affecting productivity levels, and experienced more sustained energy levels throughout the workday.
The researchers said workplaces had become "increasingly sedentary" in the last 50 years, increasing the risk of adverse health outcomes like cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
They said strategies needed to be developed to address the "sedentary behaviour in occupations which workers sit for prolonged periods of time", but little was known about the impact of sit-stand desks on worker productivity "in a real-world setting".
The University of Sydney researchers said their study found using sit-stand desks and standing at work didn't impact negatively on productivity and "sit-stand desks are a feasible strategy for promoting more standing in a real-world workplace setting like a call centre".
"Organisations considering including sit-stand desks as part of their workplace wellness practice would need to balance the costs associated with purchasing new furniture with that of potential productivity trade-offs," they said.
"We have added information to one side of this equation by demonstrating that no productivity loss resulted from the implementation of sit-stand desks in this study."
The Stanford University researchers said compared with other lower back pain therapies like pharmacological treatments, epidural injections and spinal surgery, the sit-stand desk might be a more logical option for office workers because of its "integration into the workplace, less invasive properties, and minimal disruption of daily schedules".
They added that standing at work came with additional health benefits such as "higher caloric expenditure, decreased body mass index, and improved metabolic and cardiovascular health".
Impact of a Sit-Stand Workstation on Chronic Low Back Pain: Results of a Randomized Trial. Grant Ognibene, et al, US, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000615, accessed March 2016.
More standing and just as productive: Effects of a sit-stand desk intervention on call center workers’ sitting, standing, and productivity at work in the Opt to Stand pilot study. Josephine Chau, et al, Australia, Preventive Medicine Reports, Volume 3, June 2016.
