Active Seating System to Lessen Sedentariness in Older Adults: In-home Testing Phase

April 6, 2025 updated by: Stacey L. Schepens Niemiec, University of Southern California

Development of a Comprehensive, Active Seating System to Lessen Sedentariness and Improve Health and Wellness in Older Adults: In-home Testing Phase

FitSitt is an innovative device tailored to older adults that increases the convenience of breaking up sedentary activity and incorporating physical activity into in-home daily routines. This comprehensive seating solution merges features of a posture chair, exercise machine, rehabilitation tool, and activity tracker. Its primary purpose is to reduce daily immobile time, offering users a convenient means for replacing sedentary bouts with varying intensities of physical activity, ultimately leading to improved health. FitSitt aims to improve the baseline activity profile of its users by providing a comprehensive wellness solution including a non-disruptive in-home means for physical activity engagement while allowing users to continue participation in desired seated activities. In so doing, FitSitt has the potential to decrease health-harmful sedentary activity in a wide variety of high-risk individuals and occupational contexts. The initial development of FitSitt for this Phase I proposal, however, will target community-dwelling older adults.

Co-led by Activ Sitting, Inc. and USC, Phase I will include three study phases (i.e., focus group, in-lab testing, in-home testing) to determine user acceptability, feasibility of procedures, safety, and preliminary efficacy to affect health and behavior outcomes. Clinical trial activities occur within the in-home testing stage and will focus on user acceptability and preliminary efficacy to affect health and behavioral outcomes. This information will be used along with other information collected from the overall study to redesign and enhance the current FitSitt prototype and prepare the system to be tested in a fully powered Phase II study of the enhanced FitSitt's efficacy to improve health in community-living older people. As currently designed, FitSitt provides convenience, comfort, and health value-add for myriad older adults, ensuring scalability and sustainability of broad use across communities and markets. This project will facilitate the development of an optimized, in-home, comprehensive sedentary activity solution for older adults and countless other populations that could benefit from reducing the deleterious health effects of extended inactive behavior through convenient and comfortable-to-use intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

17

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90089
        • University of Southern California

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

65 years and older (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age 65 years old or older
  2. English-speaking
  3. Live in local Los Angeles area and no plans to vacation away from home during the trial period
  4. Self-reported ability to safely engage in 30 minutes of light-intensity activity per day
  5. Self-reported ability to pedal comfortably without stopping for 5 minutes
  6. Community-dwelling

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Dependence in transferring to a chair safely
  2. Inability to safely and reliably access and operate FitSitt (ascertained by a brief demonstration at beginning of in-home visit)
  3. A member living in the same household participated in the in-home testing stage of this study
  4. Participated in the in-lab testing stage of the study already
  5. Unstable health conditions such as uncontrolled blood pressure, end-stage renal failure on renal replacement therapy, or malignancy currently on chemotherapy.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: In-home feasibility test
In this single-arm trial, participants will use an active seating system for a 3- to 7-day period. The system provides a seating platform and treadles to pedal while in a seated or semi-reclined position. The system will also include a digital user interface to track performance.
Device: FitSitt Prototype
FitSitt merges features of a posture chair, exercise machine, and tracking means. It provides seated stepping, postural support, and semi-recline capabilities. A digital interface and app will allow users to set goals and track performance.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Daily Prolonged Sedentary Bouts (activPAL+FitSitt Sensors) Change From Baseline to up to 7 Days With Intervention Present
Time Frame: Intervention-present monitoring period (3-7days) relative to pre-intervention 72-hour baseline
Daily prolonged sedentary bouts (objective sedentary activity) will be measured in real time using the activPAL thigh-worn accelerometer during a 72-hour monitoring period before introduction of FitSitt (i.e., pre-intervention) and throughout a 3- to 7-day long monitoring period when FitSitt is present (i.e., intervention-present). "Prolonged" sedentary bouts is identified by an activPAL proprietary algorithm of sedentariness >= 30 minutes in duration, and will be merged with data captured with FitSitt sensors when sitting in the FitSitt. Bouts will be expressed in hours per 24-hour period.
Intervention-present monitoring period (3-7days) relative to pre-intervention 72-hour baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
FitSitt Pedaling Usage Behavior
Time Frame: From baseline through 3-7 days (daily)
FitSitt pedaling usage behavior is defined as number of minutes spent pedaling while seated in FitSitt across a 24-hour day, as captured by onboard FitSitt sensors. Users will have FitSitt available to them for 3 to 7 days.
From baseline through 3-7 days (daily)
FitSitt Use Self-efficacy
Time Frame: 3-7 days (post-intervention)
FitSitt use self-efficacy will be assessed using a study-specific adaptation of the Self-Efficacy for Exercise scale, which we have entitled FitSitt Use Self-efficacy. Items have been modified to focus on using FitSitt as the mode of sedentary activity disruption rather than addressing exercise in general terms. The form is expected to take approximately 3 minutes to complete. Higher scores would indicate greater self-efficacy to use the device. Scores range from 0 to 10 and are calculated using the mean of the items.
3-7 days (post-intervention)
Daily Steps Change From Baseline to up to 7 Days With Intervention Present
Time Frame: Intervention-present monitoring period (3-7days) relative to pre-intervention 72-hour baseline
Daily Steps (objective physical activity) will be measured in real time using the activPAL thigh-worn accelerometer during a 72-hour monitoring period pre-intervention and throughout a 3- to 7-day long monitoring period when the intervention is present. "Steps" (i.e., pedaling counts) accumulated while sitting and using FitSitt will be merged with the activPAL data. Daily steps are expressed in counts per 24-hour period.
Intervention-present monitoring period (3-7days) relative to pre-intervention 72-hour baseline
Self-reported Physical Activity Change From Baseline to 3-7 Days
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-7 days
Self-reported physical activity will be measured via the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE). PASE is a ten-item instrument designed to assess engagement in physical activities commonly pursued by older adults, including those related to leisure, household, and occupational tasks. The tool is a valid and reliable measure of physical activity engagement in the older adult population. Scores range from 0 to 361. Higher scores indicate a higher level of activity.
Baseline and 3-7 days
Self-reported Fatigue Severity Change From Baseline to 3-7 Days
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-7 days
Fatigue will be measured using the Brief Fatigue Inventory, a 9-item questionnaire that captures subjective report of fatigue severity. It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. This tool demonstrates good psychometric properties and is sensitive to change. Higher scores indicate greater fatigue. Scores range from 0 to 10 (mean of 9 items on a 0-10 scale).
Baseline and 3-7 days
Self-reported Pain Severity Change From Baseline to 3-7 Days
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-7 days
Pain severity will be assessed using two Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) - Short Form subscales: severity. The severity subscale measures amount of pain presently and at its "worst," "least," and "average" severity. This subscale is considered valid and reliable. Higher scores = greater pain severity. Scores range from 0 to 10 and are calculated using the mean of the items.
Baseline and 3-7 days
Self-reported Pain Interference Change From Baseline to 3-7 Days
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-7 days
Pain interference will be assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) - Short Form subscale: pain interference. The interference subscale assesses how much a person's pain disrupts everyday life. This subscale is considered valid and reliable. Higher scores indicate greater pain interference. Scores range from 0 to 10 and are calculated using the mean of the items.
Baseline and 3-7 days
Self-reported Joint Stiffness Change From Baseline to 3-7 Days
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-7 days

The Musculoskeletal Stiffness Questionnaire (MSQ) is a 21-item patient-reported outcome measure that takes approximately ≤10 minutes to complete. It assesses joint stiffness and the physical and psychosocial impact of stiffness on daily life. Items are scored on a Likert scale, and the raw scores are transformed into a total percentage score ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater joint stiffness and worse outcomes. Validation studies have included healthy adults across the lifespan as well as persons with rheumatoid arthritis and chikungunya disease. The total score is derived by summing item responses, converting the total to a percentage of the maximum possible score. If subscale scores are reported, each subscale score also ranges from 0 to 100.

Unit of Measure: Scores on a scale from 0-100
Baseline and 3-7 days
FitSitt Seat Occupancy Usage Behavior
Time Frame: From baseline through 3-7 days (daily)
FitSitt seat occupancy usage behavior is defined as number of minutes spent sitting in FitSitt across a 24-hour day, as captured by onboard FitSitt sensors. Users will have FitSitt available to them for 3 to 7 days.
From baseline through 3-7 days (daily)
Fatigue Interference Change
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-7 days
Fatigue will be measured using the Brief Fatigue Inventory, a 9-item questionnaire that captures subjective report of fatigue severity. It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. This tool demonstrates good psychometric properties and is sensitive to change. Higher scores indicate greater fatigue. Scores range from 0 to 10 (mean of 9 items on a 0-10 scale).
Baseline and 3-7 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Southern California

Collaborators

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Stacey L Schepens Niemiec, PhD, University of Southern California Chan Division of OS-OT

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 27, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 18, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

March 18, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 16, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 18, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

August 22, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 24, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2025

Last Verified

April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • UP-22-00037
  • R43AG074697 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

This proposal will produce proprietary data relevant to the patented FitSitt system owned by Activ Sitting, Inc. Under the Small Business Act, SBIR/STTR grantees are protected from disclosure and nongovernmental use of all SBIR/STTR data developed from work performed under a SBIR funding agreement for a period of 20 years after the closeout of a Phase I trial. Accordingly, the team will not engage in data sharing.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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