Associations of working from home with occupational physical activity and sedentary behavior under the COVID-19 pandemic

Fukushima, Noritoshi; Machida, Masaki; Kikuchi, Hiroyuki; Amagasa, Shiho; Hayashi, Toshio; Odagiri, Yuko; Takamiya, Tomoko; Inoue, Shigeru

doi:10.1002/1348-9585.12212

Cited by 92 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Employees and especially office workers are already at risk for being physically inactive (spending three-quarters of the workday in SB) [93], and it is especially true during the lockdown and the rise of WFH, which was associated with extended sedentary periods and increased screen time [22,52,54,78,94]. Employees who worked from home spent longer uninterrupted SB time during work time than those who never worked at home [95]. Even more alarming, if people spend more time sitting during the workday, they will spend more time sitting during their leisure time [4,96].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to McDowell et al switching to WFH due to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with greater time spent sitting and was associated with more time spent in SB each day [22,45,46]. Fukushima et al also support the fact that office workers are very much sedentary while working from home during the COVID-19 regulations, as they reported that WFH workers have 111 more minutes of sedentary behavior per day than non-WFH workers [95].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in Workers’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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Background: COVID-19 has changed the world and strongly affected the health of the people and the quality of their life. These changes might impact employees’ physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB). This study aimed to summarize the literature focusing on the COVID-19-caused changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior among the adult working population. Methods: Literature searches were conducted in June 2021 using multiple electronic databases. The following keywords and synonyms were used during the searching process: physical activity, sedentary behavior, COVID-19, employee. After the data cleaning process (duplicates, inclusion criteria), the title and the abstract of all manuscripts from the searches were screened independently by two reviewers. Results: Thirty-nine manuscripts were selected as a result of the searching process. Of these, 5 were SB related, 15 were PA related and 19 addressed both PA and SB. There were longitudinal (10), cross-sectional (28) and a case study (1) in the selected manuscripts. The majority of studies were conducted in the USA (6) and Europe (18), and four studies examined the PA and/or SB in multiple countries. The majority (34 studies) of the studies used subjective, self-reported, but mostly before-validated questionnaires. Objective measures were less common and used only 12.8% of the examined studies. Moreover, 76.4% of the studies described an overall decrease in the amount of PA during the COVID-19 pandemic. In three cases, researchers observed an increase in PA among the workers. Five studies reported no significant changes in the amount of PA during the pandemic. As far as SB is concerned, 18 out of 24 of the studies reported an overall increase in the amount of SB between the two periods. Four manuscripts reported no significant change in the amount of SB, and there was only one manuscript in the examined studies that reported an overall decrease in the SB time before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion: There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdown and work from home (WFH) policies, impaired the PA and SB level of the populations. This period has delivered an important message for the adult working population as well. They should be as active as possible and avoid high levels of SB and uninterrupted sitting time. Therefore, organizations, policies and public health bodies should motivate workers, especially office workers, to be more active and interventions must be developed to mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 on PA and SB.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Workers’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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“…The working style of telework can lead to a decrease in physical activity [ 30 ], with reductions in movement within the company or the opportunity for commuting. We therefore conducted a sub-analysis by classifying workers into four groups with a combination of telework and change in physical activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pain Status and Its Association with Physical Activity, Psychological Stress, and Telework among Japanese Workers with Pain during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Yoshimoto

Fujii

Oka

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Changes in working styles and physical activities, and an increase in psychological stress during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, may have affected pain conditions among workers with pain; however, these associations are still poorly understood. Therefore, we conducted a web-based, cross-sectional study to investigate these changes among Japanese workers suffering from pain. A total of 1941 workers who were aged 20–64 years and suffered from body pain within 4 weeks prior to the study were included. Information was collected using a self-reported questionnaire between July and August 2020. Among the respondents, 15% reported that their pain worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately half of the workers claimed to have decreased physical activity (47%) and increased psychological stress (47%) during the pandemic. Multivariable logistic regression analyses found that telework (odds ratio 2.27, 95% confidence interval 1.68–3.06), decreased physical activity (3.18, 2.38–4.27), and increased psychological stress (2.16, 1.64–2.84) were associated significantly with pain augmentation. The group of workers who participated in telework and had decreased physical activity comprised the highest proportion of those with augmented pain. Our findings suggest that measures, which consider physical activities, psychological aspects, and working styles, to alleviate pain may be required for the working population in the future.

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“…They found a sharp decline in daily step counts upon the lockdown by an average of 3796 steps, followed by a trend in 34-step per day increase until the end of the lockdown, which continued into the reopening phase at a slower rate of 5 steps per day [ 14 ]. Also, the workers who telecommuted in the Tokyo metropolitan area were less physically active and had longer sedentary behaviours [ 15 ].…”

Section: The Impact On Primary Cardiovascular Prevention Risk Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Disease: a Global Perspective

Pina

Castelletti

2021

Curr Cardiol Rep

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Purpose of Review This review aims to assess the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), trying to assess the possible future trajectory of the CVDs and their management. Recent Findings The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deleterious impact on the CV risk factors, with an increase in both sedentary and unhealthy food habits. The fear of contagion has decreased the access to the emergency systems with an increase in out-of-hospital-cardiac-arrests and late presentation of acute myocardial infarctions. The closure of the non-urgent services has delayed cardiac rehabilitation programmes and chronic clinical care. Summary As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the population habits and on the management of CVDs, we will probably face an increase in CVD and heart failure cases. It is crucial to use all the non-traditional approaches, such as telemonitoring systems, in order to overcome the difficulties raised by the pandemic.

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Associations of working from home with occupational physical activity and sedentary behavior under the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 92 publications

References 33 publications

Changes in Workers’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Changes in Workers’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Pain Status and Its Association with Physical Activity, Psychological Stress, and Telework among Japanese Workers with Pain during the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Disease: a Global Perspective

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