Worksite interventions to increase stair climbing; reasons for caution

Area of Science:

• Public health interventions
• Worksite wellness programs
• Physical activity promotion

Background:

• Point-of-choice prompts effectively increase stair use in public areas like malls.
• Worksite interventions aim to boost physical activity through stair climbing.
• Existing worksite studies show limited evidence of successful stair climbing increases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the effectiveness of worksite interventions promoting stair climbing.
• To explore reasons for the difference in stair climbing promotion success between public spaces and worksites.
• To identify key determinants of stair climbing behavior in the worksite environment.

Main Methods:

• Review of published literature on worksite interventions for stair climbing.
• Analysis of factors influencing stair use in public versus worksite settings.
• Hypothesizing the role of elevator availability as a primary determinant.

Main Results:

• Public staircases show consistent increases in physical activity with prompts.
• Worksite interventions have yielded encouraging but not consistently successful increases in stair usage.
• The choice in worksites is typically stairs versus elevator, unlike public spaces (stairs vs. escalator).

Conclusions:

• The availability of elevators in worksites may significantly influence stair climbing behavior.
• Intervention effectiveness in worksites might be diluted by the presence of elevators.
• Future worksite physical activity interventions should consider the impact of elevator accessibility.