A Cost and Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Stand More AT Work (SMArT Work) Intervention
by
Fehmidah Munir 1,*
, Paul Miller 2, Stuart J.H. Biddle 3, Melanie J. Davies 4,5,6, David W. Dunstan 7,8, Dale W. Esliger 1, Laura J. Gray 9, Sophie E. O’Connell 6, Ghazala Waheed 4, Thomas Yates 4,5 and Charlotte L. Edwardson 4,5,*,†
Fehmidah Munir 1,*, Paul Miller 2, Stuart J.H. Biddle 3, Melanie J. Davies 4,5,6, David W. Dunstan 7,8, Dale W. Esliger 1, Laura J. Gray 9, Sophie E. O’Connell 6, Ghazala Waheed 4, Thomas Yates 4,5 and Charlotte L. Edwardson 4,5,*,†
1
School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK
2
Miller Economics Ltd., Biohub Alderley Park, Alderley Edge SK10 4TG, UK
3
Institute for Resilient Regions, University of Southern Queensland, Education City, Springfield Central, QLD 4300, Australia
4
Diabetes Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester General Hospital, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK
5
NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Leicester General Hospital, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK
6
Leicester Diabetes Centre, University Hospitals of Leicester, Leicester General Hospital, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK
7
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
8
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, The Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
9
Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Joint first author.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(4), 1214; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041214
Received: 18 December 2019 / Revised: 31 January 2020 / Accepted: 6 February 2020 / Published: 13 February 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Workplace Health and Wellbeing 2019)
This study conducted a cost and cost-benefit analysis of the Stand More AT (SMArT) Work workplace intervention, designed to reduce sitting time. The study was a cluster two-armed randomised controlled trial involving 37 office clusters (146 desk-based workers) in a National Health Service Trust. The intervention group received a height-adjustable workstation with supporting behaviour change strategies. The control group continued with usual practice. Self-report absenteeism, presenteeism and work productivity were assessed at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months; and organisational sickness absence records 12 months prior to, and 12 months of the intervention. Mean per employee costs associated with SMArT Work were calculated. Absenteeism, presenteeism and work productivity were estimated, and employer-recorded absence data and employee wage-banding were used to provide a human-capital-based estimate of costs to the organisation. The return-on-investment (ROI) and incremental cost-efficacy ratios (ICER) were calculated. Intervention cost was £692.40 per employee. Cost-benefit estimates show a net saving of £1770.32 (95%CI £-354.40, £3895.04) per employee as a result of productivity increase. There were no significant differences in absence data compared to the control group. SMArT Work provides supporting evidence for policy-makers and employers on the cost benefits of reducing sitting time at work.
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Keywords:
cost-benefit analysis; sitting; standing; sit-stand; presenteeism; sick leave; sickness absence; workplace health promotion
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Munir, F.; Miller, P.; Biddle, S.J.; Davies, M.J.; Dunstan, D.W.; Esliger, D.W.; Gray, L.J.; O’Connell, S.E.; Waheed, G.; Yates, T.; Edwardson, C.L. A Cost and Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Stand More AT Work (SMArT Work) Intervention. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 1214.
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