BACKGROUND: Working in an office environment is characterised by physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour. This behaviour contributes to several health risks in the long run. Dynamic workstations which allow people to combine desk activities with physical activity, may contribute to prevention of these health risks. OBJECTIVE: A dynamic workstation, called Oxidesk, was evaluated to determine the possible contribution to healthy behaviour and the impact on perceived work performance. METHODS: A field test was conducted with 22 office workers, employed at a health insurance company in the Netherlands. RESULTS: The Oxidesk was well accepted, positively perceived for fitness and the participants maintained their work performance. Physical activity was lower than the activity level required in the Dutch guidelines for sufficient physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Although there was a slight increase in physical activity, the Oxidesk may be helpful in the reducing health risks involved and seems applicable for introduction to office environments.

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The aim of this research paper was to investigate the effect, both biomechanically and physiologically, of two dynamic workstations currently available on the commercial market. The dynamic workstations tested, namely the Treadmill Desk by LifeSpan and the LifeBalance Station by RightAngle, were compared to the more conventional seated and standing workstations, through a randomized repeated measures design. Hypothesized was that the use of these dynamic workstations would have an effect on posture, physical activity, energy expenditure and muscular activity. Preliminary results suggest that the dynamic workstation increase physical activity and heart rate compared to the seated workstation.

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The effect of different workstations, conventional and dynamic, on different types of performance measures for several different office and computer based task was investigated in this research paper. The two dynamic workstations assessed were the Lifespan Treadmill Desk and the RightAngle LifeBalance Station, and the two conventional workstations assessed were a seated and a standing workstation. Through a randomized repeated measures design, the effect of these different workstations was assessed for a series of tasks consisting of a reading, typing, telephone, mouse dexterity task and a battery of computer-based cognitive tasks. Hypothesized was that the use of these dynamic workstations would have different effects on the performance measures for the different types of tasks.@en