Frequency of working at home, body mass index, and productivity in Japanese office workers: A cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people working at home has grown significantly. OBJECTIVE: This cohort study aimed to investigate whether the frequency of working at home was associated with changes in body mass index (BMI) and productivity from 2018 to 2020. METHOD: Frequency of working at home was self-reported. Participants were classified into three groups based on mean frequency of working at home per week (no working at home: ≦ 0.5 days, low frequency: 0.5 to 2.5 days, and high frequency: >2.5 days). Productivity was measured using a numerical rating scale, and BMI was calculated using height and weight. Changes in BMI and productivity were calculated by subtracting 2018 data from 2020 data. Linear regression analysis was performed by considering BMI and productivity change as outcomes and frequency of working at home as explanatory variable. RESULTS: BMI change in the high frequency group was significantly smaller than in the group that did not work at home (crude; coefficient: -0.27; 95% CI: -0.55--0.01, adjusted; coefficient: -0.30; 95% CI: -0.60--0.01). Frequency of working at home was not associated with productivity change. CONCLUSION: Working at home may be a solution for preventing BMI from increasing significantly.

Association Between Abrupt Change to Teleworking and Physical Symptoms During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Emergency Declaration in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association between telework frequency and the presence of non-COVID-19-related physical symptoms during the COVID-19 emergency declaration among workers in Japan. METHODS: Data were collected from 1648 workers via web-based self-reported questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between telework frequency per week (0, 1-2, 3-4, and ≥5 days/week) and the presence of stiff shoulders, eyestrain, and low back pain. RESULTS: Among 917 participants, telework frequency was significantly associated with stiff shoulders (≥5 days: adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.37-7.06), eyestrain (≥5 days: aOR 5.31, 95% CI 2.09-13.44), and low back pain (≥5 days: aOR 5.57, 95% CI 2.22-14.00), compared with non-teleworkers. CONCLUSIONS: Workers who abruptly began telework experienced more physical symptoms than non-teleworkers during the emergency declaration.

Health effects of immediate telework introduction during the COVID-19 era in Japan: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Telework has been widely discussed in several fields; however, there is a lack of research on the health aspects of teleworking. The current study was conducted to determine the health effects of teleworking during an emergency statement as evidence for future policy development. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study in which we administered an online questionnaire to 5,214 general workers (response rate = 36.4%) from June 2020 to August 2020. Based on working methods during the pandemic, workers were categorized into the office group (n = 86) and telework group (n = 1597), and we characterized their demographics, changes in lifestyle, telework status, physical symptoms, and mental health. RESULTS: The results showed that the workers' residence, marital status, management positions, and employee status affected the choice of the work method. During the emergency, teleworkers experienced more changes in their habits than office workers. In terms of exercise habits, 67.0% of the individuals belonging to the office-telework (OT) group exercised less. Approximately half of the teleworkers were satisfied with their telework, and those in the OT group were less satisfied with their telework than those in the telework-telework (TT) group, and they reported an increase in both working hours and meeting hours. Work-family conflict was more pronounced in the TT group than in the two other groups. Only 13.2% of individuals did not experience any stress in the past 30 days, and all three groups showed varying degrees of anxiety and depressive tendencies. In addition, all teleworkers experienced adverse physical symptoms before and after the emergency. CONCLUSION: Health issues associated with teleworking should be given adequate attention.