Working-from-home persistently influences sleep and physical activity 2 years after the Covid-19 pandemic onset: a longitudinal sleep tracker and electronic diary-based study

Abstract: TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 05 May 2023 DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1145893 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Nicola Cellini, University of Padua, Italy REVIEWED BY Giorgia Varallo, University of Parma, Italy Prerna Varma, Monash University, Australia Enrico Sella, University of Padua, Italy Working-from-home persistently influences sleep and physical activity 2 years after the Covid-19 pandemic onset: a longitudinal sleep tracker and electronic diary-based study *CORRESPONDENCE Michael W. L. Chee michael.chee@nus.edu.sg These authors have contributed equally to this work † RECEIVED 16 January 2023 ACCEPTED 21 April 2023 PUBLISHED 05 May 2023 Stijn A. A. Massar 1†, Ju Lynn Ong 1†, TeYang Lau 1, Ben K. L. Ng 2, Lit Fai Chan 2, Daphne Koek 2, Karen Cheong 2 and Michael W. L. Chee 1* Centre for Sleep and Cognition, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, 2 Health Promotion Board, Singapore, Singapore 1 CITATION Massar SAA, Ong JL, Lau T, Ng BKL, Chan LF, Koek D, Cheong K and Chee MWL (2023) Working-from-home persistently influences sleep and physical activity 2 years after the Covid-19 pandemic onset: a longitudinal sleep tracker and electronic diary-based study. Front. Psychol. 14:1145893. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1145893 COPYRIGHT © 2023 Massar, Ong, Lau, Ng, Chan, Koek, Cheong and Chee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Objective: Working from home (WFH) has become common place since the Covid-19 pandemic. Early studies observed population-level shifts in sleep patterns (later and longer sleep) and physical activity (reduced PA), during home confinement. Other studies found these changes to depend on the proportion of days that individuals WFH (vs. work from office; WFO). Here, we examined the effects of WFH on sleep and activity patterns in the transition to normality during the later stages of the Covid-19 pandemic (Aug 2021–Jan 2022). Methods: Two-hundred and twenty-five working adults enrolled in a public health study were followed for 22 weeks. Sleep and activity data were collected with a consumer fitness tracker (Fitbit Versa 2). Over three 2-week periods (Phase 1/week 1–2: August 16–29, 2021; Phase 2/week 11–12: October 25–November 7, 2021; Phase 3/week 21–22: January 3–16, 2022), participants provided daily Fitbit sleep and activity records. Additionally, they completed daily phone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA), providing ratings of sleep quality, wellbeing (mood, stress, motivation), and information on daily work arrangements (WFH, WFO, no work). Work arrangement data were used to examine the effects of WFH vs. WFO on sleep, activity, and wellbeing. Results: The proportion of WFH vs. WFO days fluctuated over the three measurement periods, mirroring evolving Covid restrictions. Across all three measurement periods WFH days were robustly associated with later bedtimes (+14.7min), later wake times (+42.3min), and longer Total Sleep Time (+20.2min), compared to WFO days. Sleep efficiency was not affected. WFH was further associated with lower daily step count..