title: The influence of activities and duration on comfort and discomfort development in time of aircraft passengers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Discomfort increases when duration of sitting is longer. Aircraft passengers are subjected to prolonged sitting in restricted postures, which can cause discomfort.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between duration of sitting and development of discomfort, as well as the influence of different passenger activities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (n = 18) performed four different activities in three conditions during an aircraft seat test. Discomfort was measured every 15 min on an 11-point scale. A short online survey asked passengers (n = 114) when they felt most refreshed during their last flight.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Discomfort was significantly lower during the 'food' activity for condition 2 (hot meal), compared to conditions 1 and 3 (drinks, snack). The largest decrease in discomfort was during the 15 min break between two conditions, in which participants could walk around. Respondents from the online survey indicated they felt most refreshed after food (34.8%), sleeping (27.0%) and walking through the plane (25.2%). Walking was mentioned more often as most refreshing activity by long-haul passengers (>6 h) compared to short-haul passengers (<2 h).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Passengers can be distracted from feeling discomfort by providing food and drinks. Airlines and seat manufacturers can increase comfort by stimulating passengers to move in their seat.
authors.affiliation: TNO Work and Employment, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hiemstra-van Mastrigt
authors.affiliation: University of Bremen, Industrial Engineering, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Meyenborg
authors.affiliation: Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoogenhout
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000401:Aircraft / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000592:standards*; D006804:Ergonomics / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Sitting; in-flight; refreshment; walking