In a study published in the Journal of Occupational Health, workers who had to sit for long periods of time during the COVID-19 pandemic reported worsened job performance.
In the survey-based study of 14,648 workers in Japan, 15% of workers said that pandemic-related changes in the work environment worsened their work performance, 4% said it improved their work performance, and 81% said it caused no change. Although telework both improved and worsened performance, sitting for long periods of time was associated only with worsened performance.
“The COVID-19 pandemic provided us a chance to reconsider the traditional working style. As our paper suggested, we should avoid a long sitting duration to maintain performance,” said lead author Kenta Wakaizumi, MD, PhD, of the Keio University School of Medicine, in Tokyo.
Additional Information
Link to Study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1348-9585.12258
About Journal
The Journal of Occupational Health (JOH) is the official English language open access journal of the Japan Society for Occupational Health with the aim of publishing original contributions relevant to occupational health. The scope of the journal is broad, covering toxicology, ergonomics, psychosocial factors and other relevant health issues of workers, with special emphasis on the current developments in occupational health. The JOH also accepts various methodologies that are relevant to investigation of occupational health risk factors and exposures, such as large-scale epidemiological studies, human studies employing biological techniques and fundamental experiments on animals, and also welcomes submissions concerning occupational health practices and related issues. The JOH publishes original articles, review articles, brief reports, case studies, field studies, opinions or recommendations, and letters to the editor.
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