The Effects of Telecommuting Intensity on Employee Health

• Published in: American journal of health promotion Vol. 30; no. 8; pp. 604 - 612
• Main Authors: Henke, Rachel Mosher, Benevent, Richele, Schulte, Patricia, Rinehart, Christine, Crighton, K. Andrew, Corcoran, Maureen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2016; American Journal of Health Promotion
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Alcohol abuse; Alcohol use; Alcoholism - epidemiology; Demography; Depression - epidemiology; Diet; Employees; Ethnicity; Exercise; Female; Health promotion; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Health status; Health Status Indicators; Humans; Job characteristics; Male; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Nutrition; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Occupational Health - statistics & numerical data; Occupational status; Physical activity; Quasi-experimental methods; Race; Risk Assessment; Sex Factors; Smoking - epidemiology; Socioeconomic Factors; Stress, Psychological - epidemiology; Telecommunications; Telecommuting; Tobacco; Workplace - statistics & numerical data; Workplace control; Young Adult; Employers, Telecommuting, Health Risks, Flexible Work Arrangements, Work-Life Balance, Prevention Research. Manuscript format: research; Target population circumstances: adult employees at Prudential Financial; Study design: quasi-experimental; Outcome measure: behavioral and biometric; Target population: adults; Research purpose: modeling/relationship testing; Health focus: fitness/physical activity, medical self-care, stress management, and weight control; Strategy: behavior change and policy; Setting: workplace
• ISSN: 0890-1171; 2168-6602; 2168-6602
• DOI: 10.4278/ajhp.141027-QUAN-544

Purpose. To investigate the influence of the intensity of telecommuting on employee health. Design. Study design comprised a longitudinal analysis of employee demographic data, medical claims, health risk assessment data, and remote connectivity hours. Setting. Data from Prudential Financial served as the setting. Subjects. Active employees ages 18 to 64 years who completed the health risk assessment between 2010 and 2011 were the study subjects. Measures. Measures included telecommuting status and intensity, and eight indicators of health risk status (obesity, depression, stress, tobacco use, alcohol abuse, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and an overall risk measure), with employee age, sex, race-ethnicity, job grade, management status, and work location as control variables. Analysis. Health risks were determined for nontelecommuters and telecommuters working remotely ≤8, 9 to 32, 33 to 72, and ≥73 hours per month. Longitudinal models for each health risk were estimated, controlling for demographic and job characteristics. Results. Telecommuting health risks varied by telecommuting intensity. Nontelecommuters were at greater risk for obesity, alcohol abuse, physical inactivity, and tobacco use, and were at greater overall risk than at least one of the telecommuting groups. Employees who telecommuted ≤8 hours per month were significantly less likely than nontelecommuters to experience depression. There was no association between telecommuting and stress or nutrition. Conclusion. Results suggest that employees may benefit from telecommuting opportunities.