Signage Interventions for Stair Climbing at Work: More than 700,000 Reasons for Caution

Abstract

Increased stair climbing reduces cardiovascular disease risk. While signage interventions for workplace stair climbing offer a low-cost tool to improve population health, inconsistent effects of intervention occur. Pedestrian movement within the built environment has major effects on stair use, independent of any health initiative. This paper used pooled data from UK and Spanish workplaces to test the effects of signage interventions when pedestrian movement was controlled for in analyses. Automated counters measured stair and elevator usage at the ground floor throughout the working day. Signage interventions employed previously successful campaigns. In the UK, minute-by-minute stair/elevator choices measured effects of momentary pedestrian traffic at the choice-point (n = 426,605). In Spain, aggregated pedestrian traffic every 30 min measured effects for ‘busyness’ of the building (n = 293,300). Intervention effects on stair descent (3 of 4 analyses) were more frequent than effects on stair climbing, the behavior with proven health benefits (1 of 4 analyses). Any intervention effects were of small magnitude relative to the influence of pedestrian movement. Failure to control for pedestrian movement compromises any estimate for signage effectiveness. These pooled data provide limited evidence that signage interventions for stair climbing at work will enhance population health.

How do different interventions impact stair climbing? A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The studies’ characteristics included in the systematic review are available in Supplemental Appendix 2. A total of 17 studies were conducted in Europe (21–37), three in Asia (38–40), 11 in North America (41–51), and three in Oceania (52–54). Interventions consisted of prompts (25,27,33,36,37,39,40,41,43,45–53,54), posters (21,27,40), banners (25,30), messages, and signs (24,25,28,30,38,44).…”

“…A total of 12 studies were conducted in University (27,38,39,45,46,48,49,51,53,54), six in office/corporate buildings (22–24, 27,31,39), four in shopping malls (21,26,34,35), four in train stations (25,28,30,38), three in worksites (32,33,45), two in airports (41,50), one in a pedestrian transit (40), and one in a health care facility (54). Furthermore, two studies conducted interventions in three combined settings (42,48).…”

Step on up! A multi-component health promotion intervention to promote stair climbing

“…To try to reduce the impact of this reality, periods of highest traffic were chosen, but these might not reliably reflect other times of use. However, the busyness of a building can also be considered a limitation because it could increase staircase use independent of any intervention (Puig-Ribera et al, 2019). In addition to the limitations noted above, the inherent limitations of an observational study design include many confounding variables that may have been at play; no inference of causality can be suggested between the intervention and findings.…”

Influence of COVID-19 Building Restrictions on Physical Activity Promotion Through Increased Stair Use and Limited Elevator Access: A Quasi-Experimental Study—Sport and Physical Activity Group Active Campus Project

“…Furthermore, a more nuanced understanding of the environment may support stair use, in a busy workplace, where wait times for an elevator might be long or unknown, stair use may increase 16 , with the use of buildings changing at different times of the day 9 . During the First and Second Intervention Months, the number of people in the Learning Hub was reduced due to Covid-19, with many staff, students and visitors choosing to stay at home or limit their visits to the campus.…”