Association of teleworking and smoking behavior of US wage and salary workers

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Nigar Nargis, American Cancer Society; Qing Li, American Cancer Society; Lauren Griffin, Emory University; Samuel Asare, American Cancer Society; Priti Bandi, American Cancer Society; Anuja Majmundar, American Cancer Society; Johann Westmaas, Emory University; Ahmedin Jemal, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-01-01
• Publisher: WILEY
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Occupational Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japan Society for Occupational Health.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1348-9585.12283
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
• Volume: 63
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: e12283
• End Page: e12283
• Keywords: telecommuting; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; UNITED-STATES; COVID-19 pandemic; Science & Technology; smoking prevalence; smoking intensity; LOCKDOWN; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Oncology

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a major shift in workspace from office to home. This report examined how telecommuting is related to smoking behavior of wage and salary workers. Methods: Self-reported smoking behavior of 1,390 U.S. wage and salary workers aged 16–64 years from the Tobacco Use Supplement of the Current Population Survey 2018/19 were linked to the 2018 American Time Use Survey. Weighted multivariate logistic regression predicting smoking probability and generalized linear regression predicting smoking intensity were used for analysis. Results: Almost a fifth (19%) of wage and salary workers reported working from home and over a half (52%) reported working in telecommuting amenable occu-pations. Nearly 12% were current smokers, smoking 14.7 cigarettes daily on av-erage. Compared to their counterparts, smoking prevalence (percentage points) was lower among those employed in telecommuting amenable occupations (−0.52, p < .001 for all; 0.01, p = .862 for men; −2.40, p < .001 for women) and who worked more frequently from home (−0.21, p < .001 for all; −0.76, p < .001 for men; −0.03, p = .045 for women). Smoking intensity (cigarettes per day) was lower among those employed in telecommuting amenable occupations (−3.39, p = .03 for all; −0.36, p = .90 for men; −4.30, p = .21 for women). We found no statistically significant association between smoking intensity and telecommuting frequency. Conclusions: The lower likelihood of smoking and lower level of smoking intensity among telecommuting wage and salary workers suggests the need for proac-tive efforts to address the potential exacerbation in occupation-related smoking disparities between occupations that are and are not amenable to telecommuting.