Dataset Information

Signage Interventions for Stair Climbing at Work: More than 700,000 Reasons for Caution.

ABSTRACT: Increased stair climbing reduces cardiovascular disease risk. While signage interventions for workplace stair climbing offer a low-cost tool to improve population health, inconsistent effects of intervention occur. Pedestrian movement within the built environment has major effects on stair use, independent of any health initiative. This paper used pooled data from UK and Spanish workplaces to test the effects of signage interventions when pedestrian movement was controlled for in analyses. Automated counters measured stair and elevator usage at the ground floor throughout the working day. Signage interventions employed previously successful campaigns. In the UK, minute-by-minute stair/elevator choices measured effects of momentary pedestrian traffic at the choice-point (n = 426,605). In Spain, aggregated pedestrian traffic every 30 min measured effects for 'busyness' of the building (n = 293,300). Intervention effects on stair descent (3 of 4 analyses) were more frequent than effects on stair climbing, the behavior with proven health benefits (1 of 4 analyses). Any intervention effects were of small magnitude relative to the influence of pedestrian movement. Failure to control for pedestrian movement compromises any estimate for signage effectiveness. These pooled data provide limited evidence that signage interventions for stair climbing at work will enhance population health.

SUBMITTER: Puig-Ribera A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6801962 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Signage Interventions for Stair Climbing at Work: More than 700,000 Reasons for Caution.

Puig-Ribera Anna A Señé-Mir Anna M AM Taylor-Covill Guy A H GAH De Lara Núria N Carroll Douglas D Daley Amanda A Holder Roger R Thomas Erica E Milà Raimon R Eves Frank F FF

International journal of environmental research and public health 20191008 19

Increased stair climbing reduces cardiovascular disease risk. While signage interventions for workplace stair climbing offer a low-cost tool to improve population health, inconsistent effects of intervention occur. Pedestrian movement within the built environment has major effects on stair use, independent of any health initiative. This paper used pooled data from UK and Spanish workplaces to test the effects of signage interventions when pedestrian movement was controlled for in analyses. Autom ...[more]

PMID: 31597383

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundRegular stair climbing has the potential to lower the risk of premature death, but current evidence is scarce. We aimed to examine whether daily stair climbing is associated with lower risk of all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality.MethodsUsing the UK Biobank cohort, we extracted information of self-reported daily flights of stairs climbed at home, categorized as none, 1 to 5, 6 to 10, 11 to 15, and ≥16 flights per day. Associations between flights of stair climbed per day and mortality were examined as hazard ratios (HRs) from Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for demographic, clinical, and behavioural covariates including time spent in other physical activities. We calculated the restricted mean survival time as an absolute measure of association. The risk of residual confounding was examined using propensity score matching and by using lung cancer as negative control outcome. Participants were followed from baseline (2006-2010) through 31 March 2020.ResultsA total of 280 423 participants (median follow-up 11.1 years, during which 9445 deaths occurred) were included. Compared with not climbing any stairs, climbing more than five flights of stairs at home per day was associated with lower risk of premature mortality. The lowest risk was found for those climbing 6-10 flights per day: 0.91; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.85, 0.98, translated to approximately 44 to 55 days of additional survival. A similar pattern was found after applying propensity score matching and for cancer mortality (6-10 flights per day HR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.97), but not for CVD mortality (6-10 flights per day HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 0.91, 1.29). The association between stair climbing and lung cancer was similar to that of all-cause mortality.ConclusionsClimbing more than five flights of stairs at home per day was associated with a lower risk of all-cause and cancer mortality, but not CVD mortality, compared with those who did not take the stairs. The magnitude of the association was small and appeared susceptible to residual confounding. It is unlikely that at-home stair climbing is sufficient physical activity stimuli to lower the risk of premature mortality.

Project description:Neurological impairments can limit the implementation of conventional cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and cardiovascular training strategies. A promising approach to provoke cardiovascular stress while facilitating task-specific exercise in people with disabilities is feedback-controlled robot-assisted end-effector-based stair climbing (RASC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, reliability, and repeatability of augmented RASC-based CPET in able-bodied subjects, with a view towards future research and applications in neurologically impaired populations.Twenty able-bodied subjects performed a familiarisation session and 2 consecutive incremental CPETs using augmented RASC. Outcome measures focussed on standard cardiopulmonary performance parameters and on accuracy of work rate tracking (RMSEP-root mean square error). Criteria for feasibility were cardiopulmonary responsiveness and technical implementation. Relative and absolute test-retest reliability were assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of the measurement (SEM), and minimal detectable change (MDC). Mean differences, limits of agreement, and coefficients of variation (CoV) were estimated to assess repeatability.All criteria for feasibility were achieved. Mean V'O2peak was 106±9% of predicted V'O2max and mean HRpeak was 99±3% of predicted HRmax. 95% of the subjects achieved at least 1 criterion for V'O2max, and the detection of the sub-maximal ventilatory thresholds was successful (ventilatory anaerobic threshold 100%, respiratory compensation point 90% of the subjects). Excellent reliability was found for peak cardiopulmonary outcome measures (ICC ? 0.890, SEM ? 0.60%, MDC ? 1.67%). Repeatability for the primary outcomes was good (CoV ? 0.12).RASC-based CPET with feedback-guided exercise intensity demonstrated comparable or higher peak cardiopulmonary performance variables relative to predicted values, achieved the criteria for V'O2max, and allowed determination of sub-maximal ventilatory thresholds. The reliability and repeatability were found to be high. There is potential for augmented RASC to be used for exercise testing and prescription in populations with neurological impairments who would benefit from repetitive task-specific training.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Mobile health (mHealth) approaches are growing in popularity as a means of addressing low levels of physical activity (PA). OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to determine the validity of wearables in measuring step count and floor count per day and assess the feasibility and effects of a 6-week team challenge intervention delivered through smartphone apps. METHODS:Staff and students from a public university were recruited between 2015 and 2016. In phase 1, everyone wore a Fitbit tracker (Charge or Charge HR) and an ActiGraph for 7 days to compare daily step count estimated by the two devices under free-living conditions. They were also asked to climb 4 bouts of floors in an indoor stairwell to measure floor count which was compared against direct observation. In phase 2, participants were allocated to either a control or intervention group and received a Fitbit tracker synced to the Fitbit app. Furthermore, the intervention group participants were randomized to 4 teams and competed in 6 weekly (Monday to Friday) real-time challenges. A valid day was defined as having 1500 steps or more per day. The outcomes were as follows: (1) adherence to wearing the Fitbit (ie, number of days in which all participants in each group were classified as valid users aggregated across the entire study period), (2) mean proportion of valid participants over the study period, and (3) the effects of the intervention on step count and floor count determined using multiple linear regression models and generalized estimating equations (GEEs) for longitudinal data analysis. RESULTS:In phase 1, 32 of 40 eligible participants provided valid step count data, whereas all 40 participants provided valid floor count data. The Fitbit trackers demonstrated high correlations (step count: Spearman ?=0.89; P<.001; floor count: Spearman ?=0.98; P<.001). The trackers overestimated step count (median absolute error: 17%) but accurately estimated floor count. In phase 2, 20 participants each were allocated to an intervention or control group. Overall, 24 participants provided complete covariates and valid PA data for analyses. Multiple linear regressions revealed that the average daily steps was 15.9% higher for the intervention group (95% CI -8.9 to 47.6; P=.21) during the final two intervention weeks; the average daily floors climbed was 39.4% higher (95% CI 2.4 to 89.7; P=.04). GEE results indicated no significant interaction effects between groups and the intervention week for weekly step count, whereas a significant effect (P<.001) was observed for weekly floor count. CONCLUSIONS:The consumer wearables used in this study provided acceptable validity in estimating stepping and stair climbing activities, and the mHealth-based team challenge interventions were feasible. Compared with the control group, the participants in the intervention group climbed more stairs, so this can be introduced as an additional PA promotion target in the context of mHealth strategies. Methodologically rigorous studies are warranted to further strengthen this study's findings.

Dataset Information

Signage Interventions for Stair Climbing at Work: More than 700,000 Reasons for Caution.

Publications

Signage Interventions for Stair Climbing at Work: More than 700,000 Reasons for Caution.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets