Evaluating the biomechanics of an in-between posture to create a multi-posture office environment

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Prolonged sitting during work is common and has been shown to cause health issues. However, changing working postures has been reported to reduce musculoskeletal issues and impact other health issues; thus, there is a need for an office environment with multiple choices of working postures. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in body position, body loading, and blood perfusion while in a seated, standing, and new office seating position, termed the in-between position. METHODS: Ground reaction forces, joint angles, pelvic tilt, openness angle (angle between the pelvis plane and thorax), and blood perfusion were evaluated for three positions. A motion capture system with markers was used to capture the position of anatomical landmarks. A six-axis force plate was used to collect the ground reaction forces, and a laser doppler perfusion monitor was used to obtain the blood perfusion. RESULTS: Data showed that the in-between position articulated the hips, which provided a hip and lumbar position closer to a standing posture than a seated posture. The average vertical ground reaction force in the in-between position was larger than the seated position but significantly smaller than during standing (p < 0.0001). There were no significant differences in anterior/posterior ground reaction forces between the seated and the in-between positions (p = 0.4934). Lastly, blood perfusion increased during the dynamic transitions between positions indicating changes in blood flow. CONCLUSION: The in-between position provides benefits of both standing (larger pelvic tilt and increased lumbar lordosis) and sitting (reduction in ground reaction forces).