Pilot Study to Assess the Impact of Hourly Prompts, Delivered by Microsoft Outlook, on Reducing Prolonged Sitting at Work

The health benefits of physical activity are widely recognised and there is increasing evidence to show the detrimental effects of sedentary behaviour on health. Both total sedentary time and the temporal pattern of accumulation of sedentary behaviour have a significant effect on health, with prolonged, unbroken periods of sitting being most harmful. Working adults spend a considerable proportion of time in the work domain and there is a high level of prolonged sedentary behaviour in many workplaces .

There is limited evidence from small-scale studies that workplace interventions can reduce prolonged sedentary behaviour of office workers. Providing advice to stand at regular intervals during the working day and using passive computer-based prompts, significantly reduced prolonged sitting by 40 minutes per day and increased self-reported energy expenditure . This indicates that there is potential for resource-light interventions to change behaviour in the workplace, however, evidence for effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability is currently limited.

This proposal is part of an ongoing collaboration with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Healthy Working lives. Representatives from 10 organisations involved with the Healthy Working Lives initiative were previously consulted to find an intervention acceptable to employers and identify companies interested in participating in a pilot study. The consultations generated considerable interest in the project and use of the outlook calendar (available to many staff) to provide prompts to stand-up as an intervention was considered acceptable to many employers. This pilot intervention will therefore build on the group's existing research.

30 desk-based employees will be recruited as participants via an email invitation and the use of posters displayed in the office. Volunteers will be screened regarding inclusion/exclusion criteria given a participant information sheet and asked to provide signed consent.

The study will be a 2-arm RCT of 30 participants split equally between a control and intervention group, where both groups receive education on why and how to reduce prolonged sitting, but the intervention group also receives hourly prompts to stand for a period of 10 weeks. Participants will be randomly assigned to a group either on an individual basis or in clusters by physical location within the office (to minimise the influence of neighbouring colleagues should they be in a different group). The method of randomisation will be decided upon once individuals have volunteered and been screened. Activity monitoring will be made at baseline (before the education session) at week 10 of the intervention and 3 months post-intervention (week 22). All participants will be asked to complete a questionnaire to ascertain basic demographic data, knowledge of and attitudes towards sedentary behaviour and previous engagement with health promotion initiatives. They will then be asked to wear a water-proofed ActivPal monitor on the front of their thigh for a period of 7 days (24 hours a day) in order to measure patterns of sedentary behaviour at baseline. To accompany this measurement they will also keep a diary recording waking and working hours for the same 7 day period.