Impact on health and well-being of working at home during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

INTRODUCTION: After the onset of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, many workers were forced to start working from home, creating a new dynamic that could potentially affect their health in several ways. OBJECTIVES: To study the impact of working at home during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on a sample of Brazilian workers. METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional methodology with an online survey conducted by a Brazilian human resources website from June 1 to August 15, 2020, with a sample of employees working at home during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. RESULTS: The sample of 653 valid responses revealed that 87.7% of the survey respondents reported that the change to home working started because of the situation caused by the pandemic. However, 550 (84.2%) people from this group stated that their employer did not conduct any health and safety evaluation of their workstation in the domestic environment. Regarding physical symptoms, there were high prevalence rates of symptoms related to musculoskeletal conditions, sleeping problems, feelings of fatigue, headaches, and migraines. The study also used the World Health Organization-5 Well-Being Index instrument and there were statistically significant associations between low scores and physical symptoms of musculoskeletal conditions, feelings of fatigue, headache or migraine, heartburn and indigestion, and leg pain. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this research confirm the importance of developing strategies and programs to preserve the health and well-being of workers who start working at home, with participation of and supervision by companies’ occupational physicians. Future investigations should continue to capture data about health, well-being, and productivity and share best practices to plan support for the occupational health of those working from home.