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The Ups And Downs Of Sit-Stand Desks, Eurekalert, 12 March 2019

[The review] examines the effects of a sit-stand desk [SSD] in the following domains: behavior, physiological, work performance, psychological, discomfort, and posture.

“The study found only minimal impacts on any of those areas, the strongest being changes in behavior and discomfort,” said Baker [professor of occupational therapy at Tufts University].

Their work showed that use of a SSD effectively got participants to sit less and stand more and that the device made users more comfortable at work. However, many frustrations with SSDs stem from the physiological outcomes. Early adopters were fed the idea that these desks would be the miracle cure for obesity, but users were not achieving the results they expected. According to the review, physiological effects were the most studied, but within that domain, there were no significant results with regards to obesity.

“There are health benefits to using sit-stand desks, such as a small decrease in blood pressure or low back pain relief, but people simply are not yet burning enough calories to lose weight with these devices,”

Chambers [lead author, professor of bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering] noted that the current research is limited because many of studies were done with young and healthy subjects who were asked to use the desk for a week or month at most. Since some of the significant benefits are with cardiovascular health or muscle discomfort, it may be beneficial to perform additional studies with middle-aged or overweight workers.

The Effect Of Sit-stand Desks On Office Worker Behavioral And Health Outcomes: A Scoping Review, Applied Ergonomics, January 2019