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

BACKGROUND: Telecommuting 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. METHODS: A 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. RESULTS: Among 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. CONCLUSION: Telecommuting 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. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-15271-0.