Impact of Shifting From Office Work to Telework on Workers' Physical Health: A Longitudinal Study.

Objective: The aim of the study is to clarify the longitudinal association between teleworking and physical health changes of Japanese workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Participants were in a certain company who received mandatory health examinations in 2019 and 2020. In June 2020, the participants were asked about frequency of teleworking, which was introduced owing to the COVID-19. Whether physical health differed by the frequency of teleworking was analyzed.
Results: The participants were 3689 workers. Frequency of teleworking were associated with more deleterious changes in diastolic blood pressure, antilipidemic drug use, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase(GOT), Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase(GPT), metabolic syndrome, and insufficient walking time among men. In contrast, no significant changes were observed in women.
Conclusions: Male workers who teleworked more frequently were more likely to experience a deterioration in their physical health within 1-year compared with those who worked at the office.
Competing Interests: Kikuchi, Hoshi, Machida, Nakanishi, and Inoue have no relationships/conditions/circumstances that present potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2024 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)