Optimal telework frequency in terms of sleep and labor productivity depends on the workers' psychological distress: A cross-sectional study in Tokyo, Japan

Yuuki Matsumoto; Kunitaka Kumadaki; Ayako Hino; Osamu Itani; Yuichiro Otsuka; Yoshitaka Kaneita

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0286699

Optimal telework frequency in terms of sleep and labor productivity depends on the workers' psychological distress: A cross-sectional study in Tokyo, Japan

PLoS One. 2023 Jun 14;18(6):e0286699. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286699. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yuuki Matsumoto¹, Kunitaka Kumadaki², Ayako Hino³, Osamu Itani¹, Yuichiro Otsuka¹, Yoshitaka Kaneita¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social Medicine, Division of Public Health, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
² Department of internal medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan, Kitakyushu, Japan.
³ Department of Mental Health, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to determine that workers' sleep and labor productivity differ with the telework frequency and that the optimal telework frequency depends on workers' psychological distress.

Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online-based questionnaire was conducted with 2,971 workers employed by Japanese companies from October to December 2021. We used the 6-item Kessler Scale, K6, as a nonspecific psychological distress scale to screen mental health conditions. A score of ≤ 4 was defined as low psychological distress (LPD), and a score of ≥ 5 was defined as high psychological distress (HPD). We used the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) as a measure of sleep quality. The Utrecht Work Engagement (UWES) and Work Functioning Impairment (WFun) scales were used as measures of labor productivity. Series of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used for the data analysis.

Results: The analysis included 2,013 participants (1,390 men and 623 women; mean age 43.2 years, standard deviation 11.3). Multiple comparison tests showed that among the participants categorized HPD (HPD type), the AIS estimates were lowest in the 1-2 d/wk group, with significant differences between the 0-3 d/m and ≥ 5 d/wk groups. UWES estimates were lowest in the 3-4 d/wk group with significant differences between the participants categorized LPD (LPD type) and HPD type, while no significant differences were observed among the LPD type. The WFun estimates among the LPD type decreased significantly with increasing telework frequency, while no significant differences were observed among the HPD type.

Conclusions: The optimal telework frequency for sleep and labor productivity may depend on the workers' psychological distress. The finding of this study could make a great contribution to occupational health activities and health promotion for teleworkers, which is necessary to make teleworking a sustainable work style.

Copyright: © 2023 Matsumoto et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Japan
Male
Psychological Distress*
Sleep
Teleworking*
Tokyo

Grants and funding

YM received a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (URL: https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/en/) to conduct this research (No. 21K10507). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.