A prospective cohort study of presenteeism and poverty among Japanese workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objectives This study examined the association of presenteeism with experiences of poverty among Japanese workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods A prospective cohort study of Japanese workers was conducted using an Internet monitoring survey. The baseline survey was conducted in December 2020, and a follow‐up survey in December 2021. Of the 27 036 workers who participated, 18 560 (68.7%) completed the follow‐up survey. The 11 081 who reported that they were not in financial difficulty in the baseline survey were included in the analysis. The degree of work functioning impairment was assessed at baseline using the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun). Households' experience of not being able to pay for food and clothing was identified in the follow‐up survey. The odds ratios (ORs) of presenteeism determined by WFun associated with poverty were estimated using a multilevel logistic model. The multivariate model included age, sex, marital status, job type, income, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, number of employees in the workplace, and the incidence rate of COVID‐19 by prefecture at baseline. Results In the multivariate model, the odds ratio of experiencing food insecurity increased with high WFun score: compared with WFun scores of 13 or less, the OR was 1.87 (95% CI: 1.43–2.43, P < .001) for WFun scores of 14 or more and 3.26 (95% CI: 2.58–4.12, P < .001) for WFun scores of 21 or more. Conclusions In addition to labor productivity, the adverse effects of presenteeism on social security‐related concerns such as poverty require further attention.

Association of Individual Behaviors With Infection Prevention Measures and COVID-19 Development: A Japanese Cross-Sectional Study

“…The association between frequent meetings with colleagues and a recent history of COVID-19 suggested that some asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic individuals had transmitted SARS-CoV-2. 14 Moreover, presenteeism, which is common in workplaces as well as among those living in poverty in Japan, 15 may increase the risk of COVID-19. Presenteeism has frequently been observed among healthcare workers even before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Longitudinal Association of Working From Home on Work Functioning Impairment in Desk Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Covariates at the baseline included age (four quintile), sex (binomial), educational attainment (college graduate or higher), marital status (married, unmarried, or widowed/separated), 22 having children (binomial 14 ), smoking habits (never, past, current), drinking habits (never, past, current), and having more than one underlying diseases (binomial) from hypertension, diabetes, asthma, bronchitis/pneumonia, atopic dermatitis, periodontitis, angina pectoris, cardiac infarction, cerebral vascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, malignancy, chronic back pain, depression, and any other psychiatric disease 41 . Equivalent household income (four quintile 42 ), employment status (employer and self-employed, regular employee, others including nonregular employee), fear of Coronavirus-2019 Scale (FCV-19; four quintile), and mean effective reproduction number of COVID-19 in the month before the survey were considered for each prefecture as time-varying covariates 43,44 . The Japanese version of the FCV-19 was validated in previous studies 45 .…”

“…Figure 1 shows the study flow. Table 1 shows respondents characteristics: the median age (interquartile range) was 42 (33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49) years; the proportion of women was 42.3% (1494); a total of 1020 desk workers (28.9%) had started working from home since or after April 2020; the proportion of desk workers working from home once a week or less, and two to three times a week or more in 2021 was 9% (319/3532) and 14.5% (513/3532), respectively, while in 2022, it was 8.4% (298/3532) and 13.8% (489/3532), respectively. Figure 2 depicts the transition of the work-from-home status.…”

The Relationship Between Symptoms and Job Loss among Japanese Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…At baseline, we identified the workers' health conditions by asking them about symptoms known to be strongly associated with presenteeism in previous studies: "Which of the following is closest to the health problem that is most affecting your work?" They answered by selecting one of the following options: "No particular problems"; "Pain"; "Physical movement and mobility"; "Fatigue, loss of strength or appetite, fever, dizziness, and moodiness"; "Toileting and defecation"; "Mental health"; "Skin, hair, and cosmetic concerns"; "Sleep"; "Eye-related matters"; "Nasal matters"; "Hearing"; or "Other" 25 .…”