Effects of Adjustable School Furniture

Effects of Adjustable School Furniture on Health-related Parameters in Students

The aim of this study is to evaluate the level of mismatch between students and school furniture and to assess the effects of adjustable furniture on sedentary behavior, physical activity levels, and sitting posture in students. Firstly, we will obtain the anthropometric measures of all students participating in the study. Secondly, we will calculate the mismatch between the student's anthropometric measures and current school furniture. In the next step, the participants will be separated in two groups, the experimental and the control group. The participants in the experimental group will use adjustable school furniture for one week, whereas the control group will use the conventional school furniture. All the participants will wear an accelerometer for five consecutive days. The results obtained will indicate the furniture mismatch prevalence and demonstrate the effects of adjustable furniture on health-related parameters in students.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Sedentary Lifestyle
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Adjustable Furniture

Detailed Description

Sedentary behavior is a risk factor affecting not only working population but also adolescents. Students spend long period of time seated, which is being associated with reports of musculoskeletal discomfort and pain. The high level of mismatch between students and school furniture is being associated with adolescent lower back pain. The aim of this study is to evaluate the level of mismatch between students and school furniture and to assess the effects of adjustable furniture on sedentary behavior, physical activity levels, and sitting posture in students. Before the experimental part of the study, we will obtain the anthropometric measures of all students participating in the study to calculate the mismatch between the students and the school furniture. In the next step, the participants will be separated to the experimental or the control group. The experimental group will use adjustable school furniture for one week whereas the control group will use the conventional school furniture. All the participants will wear an accelerometer for five consecutive days. The participants will also complete questionnaires about the sedentary behavior and physical activity levels. The sitting posture will be evaluated with Rapid Upper Limb Assessment tool (RULA). Moreover, at the baseline and on the last day of measurements we will measure the classroom environment factors (light, noise, air flow, temperature). The results obtained will indicate the furniture mismatch prevalence and demonstrate the effects of adjustable furniture on health-related parameters in students.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Slovenia
  • Skofja Loka, Slovenia, 4220
    • Carpenter High School Skofja Loka

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years to 24 years (ADULT, CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged between 16 and 24 years
• student

Exclusion Criteria:

• body mass index > 30kg/m2
• pain presence in any musculoskeletal part > 3 on 10-level scale
• presence of any non-communicable chronical diseases
• pregnancy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
NO_INTERVENTION: Control Group; The control group will use conventional school furniture.
EXPERIMENTAL: Adjustable Furniture Group; The experimental group will use adjustable ergonomic school furniture.	Device: Adjustable Furniture; The intervention will include adjustable school furniture.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change of weekly physical activity levels	Weekly physical activity levels will be measured with accelerometers.	5 days
Change of sitting time	Weekly sitting time will be measured with accelerometers.	5 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Adolescent Sedentary Activity Questionnaire	The Adolescent Sedentary Activity Questionnaire is used to subjectively assess sedentary behavior. Students are asked to think about a normal week, during school term, and to report how long they usually spent engaged in 11 different sedentary behaviors before and after school on each day of the week and on each day of the weekend. If two activities occurred at the same time (e.g., one hour in front of the television doing homework) the students are asked to estimate how much time was spent on each activity during that time (e.g., 45 min television and 15 min homework). Time spent in each category is calculated and time is also summed across categories to yield the total time per week spent in sedentary behavior. Higher outcome values present longer time in sedentary behavior (worse outcome).	Baseline and after 5 days.
Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents	Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents is used to subjectively assess physical activity levels. The questionnaire addresses a habitual week. It consists of three sections, including physical activity in school, during transportation and leisure-time. Each section is further divided into different activity categories. School section: physical education and breaks between lessons. Transportation section: walking and cycling at least 10 minutes at a stretch. Leisure-time section: activities at least 10 min long. A measure of physical activity is then reached by multiplying the time spent for each activity with the corresponding metabolic equivalent (MET-value). Higher outcome value is better, since it indicates a higher level of physical activity and MET values.	Baseline and after 5 days
Anthropometric measurements of the students performed with anthropometer	Anthropometric measurements will be performed to obtain the main measures that are needed to evaluate the user-furniture mismatch. All the measures will be taken with standard anthropometer, the unit of measure will be centimeter. We will measure Popliteal height, Buttock-popliteal length, Subscapular height, Thigh thickness. Elbow height sitting, Shoulder height sitting. With the measures obtained we will calculate the furniture mismatch for the following: Seat height, Seat depth, Seat to desk clearance, Desk height, Seat width, Upper edge of backrest. Higher percentage of the mismatch between the student's anthropometric measures and furniture indicates a worse outcome.	Baseline
Sitting posture	The sitting posture will be evaluated with RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) tool.	Baseline and after 5 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Primorska
• Collaborators: Innorenew CoE

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ANTICIPATED): December 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED): March 1, 2020
• Study Completion (ANTICIPATED): April 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 24, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 29, 2018
• First Posted (ACTUAL): August 31, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): October 2, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 1, 2019
• Last Verified: October 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: physical activity; sedentary behavior; classroom ergonomics; school interventions
• Other Study ID Numbers: Classroom Ergonomics

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No