Job stress among workers who telecommute during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study
Objectives The work system reform and the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan have prompted efforts toward telecommuting in Japan. However, only a few studies have investigated the stress and health effects of telecommuting. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the relationship between telecommuting and jo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine
2022-03-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ijomeh.eu/Job-stress-among-workers-who-telecommute-during-the-coronavirus-disease-COVID-19,145164,0,2.html |
| _version_ | 1811289656122146816 |
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| author | Kazunori Ikegami Hiroka Baba Hajime Ando Ayako Hino Mayumi Tsuji Seiichiro Tateishi Tomohisa Nagata Shinya Matsuda Yoshihisa Fujino |
| author_facet | Kazunori Ikegami Hiroka Baba Hajime Ando Ayako Hino Mayumi Tsuji Seiichiro Tateishi Tomohisa Nagata Shinya Matsuda Yoshihisa Fujino |
| author_sort | Kazunori Ikegami |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives
The work system reform and the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan have prompted efforts toward telecommuting in Japan. However, only
a few studies have investigated the stress and health effects of telecommuting. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the relationship between telecommuting
and job stress among Japanese workers.
Material and Methods
This was a cross-sectional study. In December 2020, during the “third
wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic, an Internet-based nationwide health survey of 33 087 Japanese workers (The Collaborative Online Research on
Novel-coronavirus and Work, CORoNaWork study) was conducted. Data of 27 036 individuals were included after excluding 6051 invalid responses.
The authors analyzed a sample of 13 468 office workers from this database. The participants were classified into 4 groups according to their telecommuting
frequency, while comparing scores on the subscale of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and subjective job stress between the high-frequency,
medium-frequency, low-frequency, and non-telecommuters groups. A linear mixed model and an ordinal logistic regression analysis were
used.
Results
A significant difference in the job control scores of the JCQ among the 4 groups was found, after adjusting for multiple confounding
factors. The high-frequency telecommuters group had the highest job control score. Further, after adjusting for multiple confounding factors, the
subjective job stress scores of the high- and medium-frequency telecommuters groups were significantly lower than those of the non-telecommuters
group.
Conclusions
This study revealed that high-frequency telecommuting was associated with high job control and low subjective job stress.
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. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2022;35(3):339–51 |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T03:58:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-01626286815e4bc4b3a9a7ce0fa4a813 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1232-1087 1896-494X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T03:58:20Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-01626286815e4bc4b3a9a7ce0fa4a8132022-12-22T03:03:32ZengNofer Institute of Occupational MedicineInternational Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health1232-10871896-494X2022-03-0135333935110.13075/ijomeh.1896.01865145164Job stress among workers who telecommute during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional studyKazunori Ikegami0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5486-8639Hiroka Baba1Hajime Ando2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7717-0030Ayako Hino3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4051-5311Mayumi Tsuji4Seiichiro Tateishi5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9774-6479Tomohisa Nagata6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9173-420XShinya Matsuda7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8472-8909Yoshihisa Fujino8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9126-206XUniversity of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan (Department of Work Systems and Health, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences)University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan (Department of Work Systems and Health, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences)University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan (Department of Work Systems and Health, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences)University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan (Department of Mental Health, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences)University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan (Department of Environmental Health, School of Medicine)University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan (Department of Occupational Medicine, School of Medicine)University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan (Department of Occupational Health Practice and Management, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences)University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan (Department of Public Health, School of Medicine)University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan (Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences)Objectives The work system reform and the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan have prompted efforts toward telecommuting in Japan. However, only a few studies have investigated the stress and health effects of telecommuting. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the relationship between telecommuting and job stress among Japanese workers. Material and Methods This was a cross-sectional study. In December 2020, during the “third wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic, an Internet-based nationwide health survey of 33 087 Japanese workers (The Collaborative Online Research on Novel-coronavirus and Work, CORoNaWork study) was conducted. Data of 27 036 individuals were included after excluding 6051 invalid responses. The authors analyzed a sample of 13 468 office workers from this database. The participants were classified into 4 groups according to their telecommuting frequency, while comparing scores on the subscale of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and subjective job stress between the high-frequency, medium-frequency, low-frequency, and non-telecommuters groups. A linear mixed model and an ordinal logistic regression analysis were used. Results A significant difference in the job control scores of the JCQ among the 4 groups was found, after adjusting for multiple confounding factors. The high-frequency telecommuters group had the highest job control score. Further, after adjusting for multiple confounding factors, the subjective job stress scores of the high- and medium-frequency telecommuters groups were significantly lower than those of the non-telecommuters group. Conclusions This study revealed that high-frequency telecommuting was associated with high job control and low subjective job stress. 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. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2022;35(3):339–51http://ijomeh.eu/Job-stress-among-workers-who-telecommute-during-the-coronavirus-disease-COVID-19,145164,0,2.htmloccupational healthjob stressoffice workercovid-19telecommutingjob content questionnaire |
| spellingShingle | Kazunori Ikegami Hiroka Baba Hajime Ando Ayako Hino Mayumi Tsuji Seiichiro Tateishi Tomohisa Nagata Shinya Matsuda Yoshihisa Fujino Job stress among workers who telecommute during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health occupational health job stress office worker covid-19 telecommuting job content questionnaire |
| title | Job stress among workers who telecommute during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Job stress among workers who telecommute during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Job stress among workers who telecommute during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Job stress among workers who telecommute during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Job stress among workers who telecommute during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | job stress among workers who telecommute during the coronavirus disease covid 19 pandemic in japan a cross sectional study |
| topic | occupational health job stress office worker covid-19 telecommuting job content questionnaire |
| url | http://ijomeh.eu/Job-stress-among-workers-who-telecommute-during-the-coronavirus-disease-COVID-19,145164,0,2.html |
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