SYSTEMATIC REVIEW Active Workstations to Fight Sedentary Behaviour Tine Torbeyns • Stephen Bailey • Inge Bos • Romain Meeusen Published online: 20 May 2014 Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 Abstract Background The impact of active workstations has been studied in several settings, and several outcomes have been investigated. However, the effects on health, work perfor- mance, quality of life, etc., have never been systematically reviewed. Objective To evaluate the existing literature about active workstations and their possible positive health and work performance effects. Data Sources We searched the electronic databases Pub- Med and Web of Science (up until 28 February 2014). The search terms we used were ‘active workstation’, ‘standing workstation’, ‘standing desk’, ‘stand up workstation’, ‘stand up desk’, ‘walking desk’, ‘walking workstation’, ‘treadmill workstation’, ‘treadmill desk’, ‘cycling workstation’, ‘cycling desk’ and ‘bike desk’, in combination with ‘health’, ‘quality of life’, ‘cognition’, ‘computer task performance’, ‘absenteeism’, ‘productivity’, ‘academic achievement’, ‘cognitive decline’, and ‘independent living’. In addition, we searched the reference lists of relevant published articles. Study Selection Randomized controlled trials, non-ran- domized controlled trials and non-randomized non-con- trolled trials investigating the introduction of active workstations in humans were included in this systematic review. Only original studies were included, and we did not accept studies combining the introduction of active work- stations with other interventions. Outcomes concerning health, energy expenditure, cognition, quality of life and work performance were included. Results We included 32 studies, of which five were longi- tudinal studies in school-aged children, 10 were longitudinal studies in adults and 17 were non-longitudinal studies in adults. Sixteen studies investigated standing desks, 15 inves- tigated walking desks, and one investigated a cycling work- station. The general findings were decreased sitting time, increased energy expenditure, a positive effect on several health markers, no detrimental effect on work performance, no acute effect on cognitive function and no straightforward findings concerning computer task performance. Conclusion The implementation of active workstations might contribute to improving people’s health and physical activity levels. The effect of the use of these active workstations on cognition and applied work tasks, such as computer task performance, needs further investigation before conclusions can be drawn. Another aspect that needs further investigation is the implementation of the different active workstations in all age groups. 1 Introduction It is becoming more and more clear that physical activity, defined as ‘any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure’ [1] or ‘any body movement that works your muscles and requires more energy than resting’ [2], is very important for several aspects of a long and high-quality life. The literature clearly shows that a physically active lifestyle has beneficial effects on several health parameters T. Torbeyns Á I. Bos Á R. Meeusen (&) Department of Human Physiology and Sports Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium e-mail: rmeeusen@vub.ac.be S. Bailey Department of Physical Therapy Education, Elon University, Elon, NC 27244, USA R. Meeusen School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia 123 Sports Med (2014) 44:1261–1273 DOI 10.1007/s40279-014-0202-x