Remote work poses risks to physical health

by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech | Jul. 02, 2023

Story at a glance

Health experts worry about the physical toll remote work might have on some people.

Their main concern is that remote work promotes a more sedentary lifestyle, which can contribute to blood clots, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Remote work can also lead to increased eyestrain and make it easier for workers to engage in bad habits like continuous snacking, smoking or drinking.

The explosion of remote work in recent years may come with a physical toll.

Three years after the arrival of COVID-19 triggered a mass exodus from offices, about 22 million Americans were still working fully remotely as of March 2023, according to Pew Research Center data.

The shift to remote work has been life-changing for many working adults, like those who have disabilities or are caregivers to family members, and surveys show Americans as a whole love working from home.

But doing so has its downsides. Remote work has been linked to poorer sleep, trouble with relaxing and mental health concerns. And it poses a risk to physical health, as well.

A more sedentary lifestyle can lead to blood clots, long-term health issues.

When it comes to the physical toll of remote work, health experts are most concerned about teleworkers’ lack of movement during the day.

The world has been struggling with a physical inactivity crisis for years. In 2008, about 31 percent of people 15 years or older and older were “insufficiently physically active,” according to World Health Organization data.

And that crisis appears to have been exacerbated by COVID-related lockdowns and potentially worsened by remote work, according to Ross Arena, a professor of physical therapy at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

“One of the big questions is are we going to bounce back? Or are we going to become the new even worse normal where the world is moving even less,” said Arena.

The average remote worker just takes 16 steps from their bed to their workstation, according to a 2022 survey from Upright, an app that promotes good back health. And multiple studies show such workers are physically less active than their office-going counterparts.

That same survey also found that 54 percent of remote and hybrid workers believe that their movement during the workday has shrunk by 50 percent or more over the past year.

One 2021 analysis from Stanford University found that between 2007 and 2016 the average time American adult spent sitting increased from 5.5 to 6.4 hours a day. By April 2020, 40 percent of U.S. adults sat more than eight hours a day.

One worry associated with a mainly sedentary lifestyle is blood clots. Sitting for too long can increase a person’s chance of developing a blood clot like deep vein thrombosis, or a clot that forms in veins deep in the body, which can then travel up to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism, or a blockage of blood flow. A pulmonary embolism can in turn stop oxygen from entering the bloodstream, damaging organs, and can quickly become life-threatening.

Anyone at any age is at risk of developing a blood clot, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but there are risk factors that increase someone’s odds of developing one.

Older adults and those with people with clotting disorders are the most at risk of developing a blood clot due to inactivity, according to the CDC. A recent surgery, hospitalization or pregnancy, cancer and some types of cancer treatments can also be risk factors.

To avoid blood clots, health experts encourage remote workers to stay hydrated and to get up from their desks and move around every two to three hours.

“It’s the same rationale as encouraging individuals at risk for clotting to get up and walk on long flights and drinking water,” said Carnethon.

Not only can little movement lead to more immediate risks like blood clots, but it can contribute to long-term health issues as well.

Unless remote workers make a conscious effort to exercise, being sedentary throughout the day puts workers at risk of putting on weight, and increasing insulin resistance, raising their odds of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, according to Arena.

Physical activity has also been linked to improving bone and musculoskeletal health and reducing the risk of developing dementia, according to the CDC.

About 3.2 million deaths a year are the result of physical inactivity, according to the World Health Organization.

Excess screen time can worsen eyesight, cause migraines

More than half of remote workers reported experiencing an increase in eyestrain during the first year of the pandemic, according to a survey of 2,000 at-home and hybrid workers.

This could be linked to the extra number of hours remote workers spend staring at screens compared to their office-going counterparts.

One survey from All About Vision found that a person working from home spends an average of 13 hours a day looking at a screen a day, be it their laptop, phone or television — over two hours more than what the average on-site worker spends staring at a screen.

The same survey found that 68 percent of remote workers reported new eye or vision problems since they started working from home.

Those complaints of worsening eyesight make sense, according to Mercedes Carnethon, vice president of preventative medicine at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine.

“If I’m working remotely and I’m spending five hours a day in meetings, that’s five hours of blue light exposure,” she said. “If I had been working in an office and meeting with people in person, I would have a need to adjust my vision to see things further away and closer which helps to, I think, keep the eyes healthy.”

Carnethon added that people who look at screens for long periods of time are less likely to blink as frequently compared to people not starting at a screen. This habit can contribute to dry eyes, which, if left untreated, can turn into a chronic problem.

“It’s a significant quality of life issue,” said Carnethon. “And if you end up with eyestrain or vision changes that are sped up due to staring at screens…headaches and other uncomfortable downsides are very real.”

Other painful side effects associated with staring at screens too long are double vision, blurred vision and neck pain.

Working from home can make it easier to pick up — or indulge — bad habits

Working from home can make it easier for some people to continuously snack throughout the day, which can lead to unwanted weight gain, according to Carnethon.

It can also make it easier for some people to indulge in habits like smoking and drinking too much.

For people working in an office, opportunities to smoke are limited, and commutes often prevent people from having after-work drinks the moment the workday ends.

“When you are working from home without that sense of accountability, you could potentially see someone just sitting at their desk smoking while they work,” she said. “Or pour that drink at 5 o’clock because they don’t have to drive home.”

One out of five U.S. workers admitted to having used alcohol, marijuana or another recreational drug while working remotely in 2021, according to a national survey that year from Sierra Tuscon, a mental health treatment center in Arizona.

Out of those who used, 73 percent said that if their employer forced them to return to the office they would “miss the opportunity to use marijuana, alcohol, and other recreational drugs during their workday.”

In addition, 22 percent of those who used said they have participated in a virtual work call while under the influence of alcohol, cannabis or another recreational drug.