Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36959592›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2023

Telecommuting-related health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea: a national population-based cross-sectional study.

Seung-Woo Ryoo, Jin-Young Min, Dong-Wook Lee, Baek-Yong Choi, Juho Choi, Ho-Yeon Kim, Kyoung-Bok Min

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Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Article
  4. Article
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  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Seung-Woo RyooDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-799, Republic of Korea.
Jin-Young MinVeterans Medical Research Institute, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Dong-Wook LeeDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-799, Republic of Korea.
Baek-Yong ChoiDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-799, Republic of Korea.
Juho ChoiDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-799, Republic of Korea.
Ho-Yeon KimDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-799, Republic of Korea.
Kyoung-Bok MinDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-799, Republic of Korea. minkb@snu.ac.kr.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTelecommuting has expanded greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the advent of remote working from home, there has been an ongoing controversy about the positive or negative health-related impact of telecommuting. This study aimed to investigate change in the occupational health risk in South Korean workers involved in telecommuting during the pandemic period compared to daily commuters.

methodsA population-based cross-sectional study of South Korean workers using the secondary data from the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey (2020-2021) was designed. A total of 12,354 white-collar wage employees were selected as the study sample. Telecommuting, depression, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, headache-eye strain, absenteeism, and presenteeism were measured by self-reported data. Multiple logistic regression models, including gender stratification analysis, were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) for the health outcomes of telecommuters.

resultsAmong the study population, 338 males and 318 females were reported to be telecommuters. The entirely adjusted regression model showed a positive association between telecommuting and anxiety (AOR = 2.82; 95% CI, 1.93-4.10), insomnia (AOR = 1.93; 95% CI, 1.27-2.92), fatigue (AOR = 1.76; 95% CI, 1.30-2.37), musculoskeletal pain (AOR = 1,76; 95% CI, 1.33-2.32), headache-eye strain (AOR = 1.94; 95% CI, 1.48-2.54), presenteeism (AOR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.20-2.28) respectively. Gender difference was identified in that only female telecommuters had a higher risk of depression (AOR = 1.62; 95% CI, 1.04-2.53) and insomnia (AOR = 2.07; 95% CI, 1.26-3.41) than daily commuters in the adjusted model.

conclusionTelecommuting was significantly associated with an increased risk of various health problems among South Korean workers and females were identified as a more vulnerable group. Although further research is required to ascertain the causal relationship, public health intervention should be considered to prevent the negative effects of telecommuting.

Indexed as

COVID-19Musculoskeletal PainSleep Initiation and Maintenance DisordersCross-Sectional StudiesFatigueFemaleHeadacheHumansMaleOutcome Assessment, Health CarePandemicsRepublic of KoreaTeleworkingGender differenceNational population surveyOccupational health COVID-19Telecommuting

Identifiers

PMID36959592
PMCPMC10034878

What Socratic holds

Textfull text, public
LicenceCC BY
reference markers read4
measurements read36
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.