Breaking of Sitting Time Prevents Lower Leg Swelling (Break_sitting)

Breaking of Sitting Time Prevents Lower Leg Swelling - Comparison Among Sit, Stand and Intermittent (Sit-to-stand Transitions) Conditions

Sitting or standing during a prolonged and uninterrupted period of time is related to negative health outcomes, such as lower extremity swelling. It is unknown if interrupting sedentary behavior by including brief bouts of standing up to the sitting time can attenuate lower leg swelling. Thus, our purpose is to examine if breaking sitting time by adding sit-to-stand transitions attenuates or even prevents lower leg swelling, compared with uninterrupted motionless standing and uninterrupted motionless sitting, using localized bioelectrical impedance raw parameters.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Edema Leg
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Uninterrupted motionless standing; Behavioral: Uninterrupted motionless sitting; Behavioral: Sit-to-stand transitions

Detailed Description

Increased sedentary behavior has deleterious effects on cognitive function, mental health, physical function, disability as well as quality-of-life. Nowadays, prolonged sitting time has been introduced into many situations such as transportation and in the workplace. Staying in the same position (e.g., sitting/standing) for a long and uninterrupted period is associated with poorer health-outcomes, increasing the risk for premature mortality. For instance, sitting for a long period of time has been associated with lower limbs edema. This condition causes discomfort and pain, in turn associated with a lower quality-of-life.

The literature shows that interruption of prolonged sitting time has a positive impact in several health-related risk factors. However, no studies analyzed the effects of motionless sitting with brief standing bouts on lower leg swelling. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine and to compare the effects of standing, sitting and sit-to-stand transitions on lower leg swelling using localized bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) measurements A crossover randomized experiment was performed among 20 healthy individuals [age: 27.5±5.9y, 47% females]. In this study, the participants performed the 3 conditions (randomly ordered): 1) uninterrupted motionless standing; 2) uninterrupted motionless sitting; 3) sit-to-stand transitions (1 minute sitting followed by 1 minute standing). Before each condition, a 10-min resting period was performed. Total fat and fat-free mass were determined by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Localized resistance (R), reactance (Xc), impedance (Z) and phase angle (PhA) were assessed at the baseline, at 10 min and at 20 min for each condition.

The researchers hypothesized that interrupting a prolonged sitting position with sit-to-stand transitions will result in greater muscle pump, preventing lower leg swelling.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Portugal
  • Cruz-Quebrada
    • Oeiras, Cruz-Quebrada, Portugal, 1409-002
      • Faculdade de Motricidade Humana

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 40 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• BMI ranging between 18.5 to 29.9 kg/m2;
• Not taking any medications at the time of the measurements;
• All women should have a (self-reported) regular menstrual cycle.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Self-reported inability to stand for 20min without moving the lower limbs
• An active smoking status
• Presence of diabetes

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Uninterrupted motionless standing; 20minutes of uninterrupted motionless standing	Behavioral: Uninterrupted motionless standing; Participants remained 20 minutes of uninterrupted motionless standing
Experimental: Uninterrupted motionless sitting; 20 minutes of uninterrupted motionless sitting	Behavioral: Uninterrupted motionless sitting; Participants remained 20 minutes of uninterrupted motionless sitting
Experimental: Sit-to-stand transitions; 20 minutes of sit-to-stand transitions (1 minute sitting with 1 minute standing)	Behavioral: Sit-to-stand transitions; 20 minutes of sit-to-stand transitions (1 minute sitting with 1 minute standing)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Phase Angle (º)	The bioimpedance AKERN BIA 101/BIVA PRO was used to assess physical parameters. Akern is a phase-sensitive device that measures phase angle (PhA).	8 weeks
Impedance (Ohm)	The bioimpedance AKERN BIA 101/BIVA PRO was used to assess physical parameters. Akern is a phase-sensitive device that measures impedance (Z).	8 weeks
Resistance (Ohm)	The bioimpedance AKERN BIA 101/BIVA PRO was used to assess physical parameters. Akern is a phase-sensitive device that measures phase angle (PhA) and impedance (Z), and then calculates resistance (R).	8 weeks
Reactance (Ohm)	The bioimpedance AKERN BIA 101/BIVA PRO was used to assess physical parameters. Akern is a phase-sensitive device that measures phase angle (PhA) and impedance (Z), and then calculates reactance (Xc).	8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Fat Free Mass (kg)	Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA; Hologic Explorer-W, Waltham, USA) was used to determine fat-free mass (FFM). A whole-body scan was performed, and the attenuation of X-rays pulsed between 70 and 140kV synchronously with the line frequency for each pixel of the scanned image was measured	8 weeks
Fat mass (kg)	Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA; Hologic Explorer-W, Waltham, USA) was used to determine total fat mass (FM). A whole-body scan was performed, and the attenuation of X-rays pulsed between 70 and 140kV synchronously with the line frequency for each pixel of the scanned image was measured.	8 weeks
Weight (kg)	Weight was measured in bathing suit and no shoes to the nearest 0.01kg using a weight scale.	8 weeks
Height (cm)	Height was measured in bathing suit and no shoes to the nearest 0.1cm using a a stadiometer (Seca, Hamburg, Germany), respectively.	8 weeks
Blood pressure (mmHg)	Blood pressure was measured (seated and bipedal) right before the start of each protocol. During the experimental condition, blood pressure was measured every 5 minutes.	8 weeks
Heart Rate (bpm)	Heart rate was measured (seated and bipedal) right before the start of each protocol. During the experimental condition, heart rate was measured every 5 minutes.	8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Faculdade de Motricidade Humana

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): July 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 30, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 12, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): December 30, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 18, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 3, 2022
• Last Verified: January 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Bioimpedance; Sedentary behaviour; Raw BIA parameters; Extracellular water expansion
• Other Study ID Numbers: Break_Sitt

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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