Abstract
Purpose
Standing workstations have recently been promoted as a healthy alternative to sitting. However, it is unknown how prolonged standing affects arterial stiffness, a prognostic indicator of cardiovascular health. The purpose of this study was twofold: to observe changes in arterial stiffness, as assessed by pulse wave velocity (PWV), with a 2-h bout of standing, and to determine if short, intermittent walking bouts provide a comparative advantage to standing alone.
Methods
Nineteen adults had arterial stiffness assessed by pulse wave velocity. Central (CPWV), upper peripheral (UPWV), and lower peripheral (LPWV) PWV were assessed before (supine), during standing (min 10, 60, and 120), and after (supine) the 2-h standing bout. In one trial, the participants stood at a standing desk immobile for 2 h. In the other trial, participants performed 5-min walking breaks after every 25 min of standing.
Results
After 2-h of standing, supine (85.8 ± 90.1 cm/s) and standing (303.4 ± 390.2 cm/s), LPWV increased independent of trial (i.e., main effect of time; p < 0.001). Walking breaks during 2 h of standing did not significantly attenuate these changes. In addition, standing CPWV decreased over time (− 38.5 ± 61.5 cm/s; p = 0.04). Yet, UPWV, standing or supine, did not change over the course of standing (p > 0.05).
Conclusions
These findings indicate that prolonged standing increases the measures of arterial stiffness and there is no evidence that walk breaks attenuate this response.
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Abbreviations
- C PWV :
-
Central pulse wave velocity
- HR:
-
Heart rate
- L PWV :
-
Lower peripheral pulse wave velocity
- MAP:
-
Mean arterial pressure
- PWV:
-
Pulse wave velocity
- STAND:
-
Standing trial
- U PWV :
-
Upper peripheral pulse wave velocity
- WALK:
-
Walking trial
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Funding
This study was funded by Grant No. 4T42OH008421 09 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (SWCOEH), an NIOSH Education Research Center.
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MG and KG conceived and designed the research study and acquired funding. BD and MP recruited and screened participants. MP, AC, BH, MRC, BD, and MP conducted the experiments. BH analyzed the ultrasound images for pulse wave velocity analysis. AC performed all the statistical analyses. AC, MRC, BH, MG, and KG wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Communicated by Mark Olfert.
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Caldwell, A.R., Gallagher, K.M., Harris, B.T. et al. Prolonged standing increases lower limb arterial stiffness. Eur J Appl Physiol 118, 2249–2258 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3956-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3956-2