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

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.

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.

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.

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.