Prolonged sitting linked to impaired work performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

In a study published in the Journal of Occupational Health, workers who had to sit for long periods of time during the COVID-19 pandemic reported worsened job performance.

In the survey-based study of 14,648 workers in Japan, 15% of workers said that pandemic-related changes in the work environment worsened their work performance, 4% said it improved their work performance, and 81% said it caused no change. Although telework both improved and worsened performance, sitting for long periods of time was associated only with worsened performance.

“The COVID-19 pandemic provided us a chance to reconsider the traditional working style. As our paper suggested, we should avoid a long sitting duration to maintain performance,” said lead author Kenta Wakaizumi, MD, PhD, of the Keio University School of Medicine, in Tokyo.