Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between telecommuting environments and shoulder pain in Japanese telecommuters.
Methods: We conducted an Internet-monitored, cross-sectional study and analyzed 2537 participants who mainly telecommuted at least 4 days per week. We assessed the presence of shoulder pain using a numerical rating scale and the characteristics of the telecommuting environment by asking eight questions. We used multilevel logistic regression analysis with the city of residence as a random effect.
Results: Inadequate desk brightness (odds ratio [OR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.78), inadequate foot space (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.02-1.58), and uncomfortable temperature and humidity (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.16-1.72) were associated with shoulder pain in multilevel logistic regression analysis.
Conclusions: Inappropriate telecommuting environments were associated with an increase in the prevalence of shoulder pain in Japanese telecommuters.
Copyright © 2022 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.