title: Sit-stand desks in call centres: associations of use and ergonomics awareness with sedentary behavior.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether or not use of sit-stand desks and awareness of the importance of postural variation and breaks are associated with the pattern of sedentary behavior in office workers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data came from a cross-sectional observation study of Swedish call centre workers. Inclinometers recorded 'seated' or 'standing/walking' episodes of 131 operators over a full work shift. Differences in sedentary behavior based on desk type and awareness of the importance of posture variation and breaks were assessed by non-parametric analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  90 (68.7%) operators worked at a sit-stand desk. Working at a sit-stand desk, as opposed to a sit desk, was associated with less time seated (78.5 vs 83.8%, p = 0.010), and less time taken to accumulate 5 min of standing/walking (36.2 vs 46.3 min, p = 0.022), but no significant difference to sitting episode length or the number of switches between sitting and standing/walking per hour. Ergonomics awareness was not associated with any sedentary pattern variable among those using a sit-stand desk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of sit-stand desks was associated with better sedentary behavior in call centre workers, however ergonomics awareness did not enhance the effect.
authors.affiliation: School of Physiotherapy, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Straker
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heiden
authors.forename: Svend Erik
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Mathiassen
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toomingas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006804:Ergonomics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007374:Interior Design and Furnishings; D008297:Male; D016272:Occupational Health; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013548:Sweden; D017132:Workplace