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Table 2 Study characteristics and findings

From: The relationship between telework from home and employee health: a systematic review

Study

Population

N

Exposure measure

Outcome measure(s)

Outcome group

Design

Follow-up

Findings

Quality

Anderson et al. 2015 [32]

Age: ≤65 yrs.

Gender: 50% female

Type of work: government agency

Country: USA

102

TWFH or office

Self-report

Negative/positive affective well-being

Self-reported, 10 items, 5-point Likert-scale

Well-being

Cross-sectional

N.A.

TWFH was associated with more positive affective well-being and less negative affective well-being on days TWFH

Poor

Baard & Thomas 2010 [33]

Age: ≥23 yrs.

Gender: 46% female

Type of work: telecommunication and finance

Country: South Africa

63

TWFH ≥1d/wk., but less than 5d/wk.

Self-report

Stress

Self-reported 5-point Likert-scale

Stress

Cross-sectional

N.A.

Participants reported decreased stress when TWFH, with those having ≥3 dependents at home more often reporting a decrease in stress levels

Poor

Delanoeije & Verbruggen 2020 [34]

Age: 24-65 yrs.

Gender: 24% female

Type of work: engineering and estimating within construction and property

Country: Belgium

64

TWFH or office.

Intervention group TWFH ≤2d/wk. vs control only working at the office

Stress

Self-reported, 5 items, 7-point Likert-scale

Stress

Quasi-experimental (longitudinal)

3 months

There was no difference in stress between intervention groups, but workers TWFH reported lower levels of stress on days TWFH compared to days working at the office

Good

Fonner & Roloff 2012 [35]

Age: 39 yrs. (mean)

Gender: 54% female

Type of work: not specified office work

Country: USA

193

High-intensity TWFH, ≥3d/wk. or office-based

Self-reported

Stress from interruptions

Self-reported, 6-item scale

Stress

Cross-sectional

N.A.

Office-based employees reported significantly higher levels of stress from interruptions compared to those TWFH, but are more negatively affected by interruptions per se

Poor

Giménez-Nadal et al. 2020 [30]

Age: 16-65 yrs.

Gender: 45% female

Type of work: general working population

Country: USA

2471

TWFH or office

Self-reported

Pain, happiness, sadness, tiredness, stress

Self-reported, single-items, 7-point Likert-scale

Pain, Well-being, Exhaustion & burnout, Stress

Cross-sectional

N.A.

Male workers TWFH reported less stress, pain and tiredness compared to office-based workers. No associations were found for happiness or sadness. No associations were found between TWFH and any outcome for female workers

Fair

Henke et al. 2016 [36]

Age: 18-64 yrs.

Gender: 58% female

Type of work: Finance

Country: USA

3703

Hours logged TWFH

Edington risk score

Self-reported, Health risk assessment

General health

Longitudinal

1 year

Employees TWFH had an overall reduced risk of developing health problems

Good

Hoffman et al. 2020 [37]

Age: not provided

Gender: 69% female

Type of work: radiation oncology

Country: USA

575

TWFH some or all of the time

Self-reported

Burnout

Self-reported, single item, 5-point Likert-scale

Exhaustion and burnout

Cross-sectional

N.A.

The majority of employees TWFH reported this as positive experience, a feeling associated with reduced burnout

Poor

Kroll & Nüesch 2019 [27]

Age: 20 – 60 yrs.

Gender: 47% female

Type of work: general working population

Country: Germany

6132

Carrying out telework at home or not

Self-reported

Perceived health, leisure satisfaction

Self-reported, single item, 5 and 10-point Likert-scale

General health, satisfaction with life and leisure

Longitudinal

10 yrs.

TWFH was not associated with leisure satisfaction or perceived health

Good

Reusche D. 2019 [28]

Age: 18 – 64 yrs.

Gender: 48% female

Type of work: general working population

Country: Great Britain

3738

TWFH or not

Self-reported

Satisfaction with life, leisure time, and health

Self-reported, single-items, 7-point Likert-scale

General health, satisfaction with life and leisure

Longitudinal

7 yrs.

TWFH was associated with increased satisfaction with leisure time, but not with overall life or health

Good

Sardeshmukh et al. 2012 [38]

Age: ≥26 yrs.

Gender: 29% female

Type of work: logistics

Country: USA

417

TWFH part time

Self-reported

Exhaustion

Self-reported, 8-item scale

Exhaustion and burnout

Cross-sectional

N.A.

TWFH was associated lower degree of exhaustion, mediated by role conflict, role ambiguity, time pressure, support, feedback, and autonomy

Poor

Shepherd- Banigan et al. 2016 [39]

Age: 18 – 43 yrs.

Gender:100% female

Type of work: general working population

Country: USA

570

TWFH or not

Interview

Symptoms of depression

Self-reported, 20-items, 3-point Likert-scale

Well-being

Longitudinal

2 yrs.

TWFH was related to less symptoms of depression in women with young children (≤24 months) who returned to work within 6 months after childbirth

Good

Song & Gao 2020 [29]

Age: 18 – 65 yrs.

Gender: 41% female

Type of work: general working population

Country: USA

3962

TWFH or office

Self-reported

Pain, happiness, sadness, meaningfulness, stress, tiredness

Self-reported, single-items, 7-point Likert-scale

Pain, Well-being, Stress, and Exhaustion & burnout

Cross-sectional

N.A.

Overall, there was no association between TWFH and pain, tiredness, happiness, sadness or meaningfulness. There was an increase in stress for fathers TWFH and a reduction in happiness for mothers TWFH. TWFH was associated with higher stress levels.

Good

Vander Elst et al. 2017 [31]

Age: 45 yrs. (mean)

Gender: 17% female

Type of work: telecommunication

Country: Belgium

878

Extent of TWFH

Self-reported

Emotional exhaustion, Cognitive stress complaints

Self-reported, single-items, 7- and 5-point Likert-scales

Stress, Exhaustion & Burnout

Cross-sectional

N.A.

No associations between TWFH and emotional exhaustion and cognitive stress complaints. Results showed indirect relationships via level of felt social support for both outcomes.

Good

Windeler et al. 2017a [40]

Age: 43 yrs. (mean)

Gender: 39% female

Type of work: information technology

Country: USA

51

TWFH 1-2 d/wk.

Self-reported

Work exhaustion

Self-reported, 4-items, 7-point Likert-scale

Exhaustion & Burnout

Longitudinal

4 months

TWFH 1-2 d/wk. was associated with reduced work exhaustion due to interpersonal interaction, but with increased work exhaustion related to external interaction. TWFH did not affect the relationship between interdependence and work exhaustion. Men and older workers experienced higher levels of exhaustion after beginning to TWFH.

Good

  1. aWindeler et al. [40] report on two studies, where we report only study 1 (within subject assessment with longitudinal design)