16-person study too small to claim that seated desk exercise is beneficial

Does the news release adequately discuss the costs of the intervention?

Not Satisfactory

According to the study, the “commercially available” device referenced in the news release is called the HOVR (the company that makes the HOVR funded the research). While the news release didn’t mention the cost of the device, a quick Google search shows that these devices are available for purchase online and cost between $75 and $150.

Does the news release adequately quantify the benefits of the treatment/test/product/procedure?

Not Satisfactory

The news release did briefly mention the benefits found in the study: “modest movement while seated elevated the metabolic rate more than sitting and more than standing, by 17 and 7 percent respectively.” But it gives us no context for these numbers — in terms of metabolic rate variability, is 7% a lot? A layperson reading this news release has no frame of reference to determine if these numbers are significant. Would 7% increase over the course of a lifetime reduce sitting-attributed mortality?

Does the news release adequately explain/quantify the harms of the intervention?

Not Satisfactory

There is no mention of any harms in the news release. It’s likely that there aren’t many, since low-impact seated activity is good for joints and can still burn some calories. But still, as we say in our review criteria: if you’re only hearing about the potential benefits of a test or treatment, run for the hills.

Does the news release seem to grasp the quality of the evidence?

Not Satisfactory

There were several limitations of the study that could be seen from just a quick look at the abstract (the full article was not accessible by the reviewers), but were not mentioned in the news release. One limitation is the small sample size: only 16 people took part in the study. Another is that there is no mention of participant gender, even though there have been many studies that show that fat metabolism is different in men and women. The third limitation is that data collection was only done once; it would have been easy for the researchers to repeat the experiment several times to establish the validity of their results. The news release does quote the lead researcher as saying that the study needs to be further validated, but if this is the case, was publicizing the results from the study premature? The answer is likely yes.

Does the news release commit disease-mongering?

Not Satisfactory

The release fear mongers by citing a statistic based on one association study that looked at the relationship between sitting and risk of death. The study suggests that 7% of deaths from any cause were attributed to long periods of sitting down. What does it even mean that “Up to 7 percent of deaths have been attributed to sitting alone.” Does it mean those people died earlier than they would have otherwise? If so, how much earlier? And what sort of evidence would allow us to say with any certainty that sitting down was the cause of these deaths as opposed to the myriad other possibilities? If a statistic like this is to be used, it’s meaning must be explained — otherwise it constitutes unacceptable fear-mongering.

The authors of that study also cautioned that “sedentary behavior research is still in its infancy and that more high-quality prospective studies are needed.”

Does the news release compare the new approach with existing alternatives?

Not Satisfactory

No other alternative devices that promote leg movement while seated were mentioned. But in fact there are a ton of other options to stimulate movement while seated — from balance balls to leg and arm peddlers (and some are also significantly less expensive).