ABSTRACT
This study aimed to examine the relationship between telecommuting and the regional cumulative COVID-19 incidence. This was a cross-sectional study analyzing 13,468 office workers. The participant groups, according to the level of cumulative COVID-19 incidence by prefecture, were used as the predictor variable, and telecommuting frequency and preference were used as outcomes. We employed an ordinal logistic regression analysis. In regions with a high cumulative COVID-19 incidence, the proportion of participants who telecommuted more than two days per week was 34.7%, which was approximately 20% higher than in other regions. Telecommuting preference was stronger in areas with higher COVID-19 influence. However, in other regions, the proportion of participants who did not want to telecommute was higher than that of those who wanted to telecommute. We found that telecommuting frequency and preference were higher in regions with high cumulative COVID-19 incidence.
ABSTRACT
ObjectivesThe work system reform and the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan have prompted efforts toward telecommuting in Japan, and there has been little research regarding the stress and health effects of telecommuting. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between telecommuting and job stress among Japanese workers. Study DesignThis was a cross-sectional study. MethodsIn December 2020, during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, an Internet-based nationwide health survey of 33,087 Japanese workers (CORoNaWork study) was conducted. Data for 27,036 individuals was included as 6,051 individuals provided invalid responses. We analysed a sample of 13,468 office workers from this database. We classified participants into four groups according to telecommuting frequency and compared the subscale of the Job Content Questionnaire and subjective job stress among these groups: high-frequency, medium-frequency, and low-frequency telecommuters group and non-telecommuters group. We used a linear mixed model and ordinal logistic regression analysis. ResultsThere was a significant difference in the score of job control of the JCQ among the four groups after adjusting for multiple confounding factors. The high-frequency telecommuters group had the highest job control score. Regarding the fluctuation score of subjective job stress, the high- and medium-frequency telecommuters groups were significantly lower than those of the non-telecommuters group after adjusting for multiple confounding factors. ConclusionWe found that high-frequency telecommuting was associated with high job control. This study suggests that the widespread adoption of telecommuting as a countermeasure to the public health challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may also have a positive impact on job stress.
