Does a reclined backrest with less legroom meet the same comfort as a fixed backrest with 80 mm more leg room?

The reduced legroom was created with a wooden plate rather than a real front seat, so there was no space under the seat to tuck feet into, which is not how a real van is laid out. Neither seat had a headrest, and neck discomfort and the wish for a headrest came up repeatedly from participants in both seats. The testing was done sitting still in a laboratory, not in a moving van, with only 20 participants. Most participants used a smartphone during the test, which pulls the head down and may explain both the neck discomfort and the right-hand discomfort reported on the body map. The body-region questionnaire was completed on participants' own phones of different screen sizes instead of a standard format, which may have affected how they scored their discomfort. Participants were recruited on height alone and were deliberately taller than average (mid-range to tall men and women), so the findings may not apply to shorter people. The upright seat tested here was already fairly reclined at 116 degrees, and other research cited in the paper suggests drivers and rear-seat passengers prefer 117 to 119 degrees, so the comparison is between two reclined seats rather than a truly upright one.

The paper's funding statement and its conflict of interest statement both say only 'not applicable'. The paper does not say who paid for the seats, the laboratory time, or the 20-euro vouchers participants received.

Do not read the lower discomfort scores in the reclined seat as proof that it is the better seat. The body map showed more areas of discomfort in the reclined seat after 45 minutes, mainly the feet and legs, and the participants split exactly evenly on which seat they preferred, which the authors themselves say makes a hard statement about either seat questionable.