You are here

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Volume 15, Issue 2
  • Exploring the causal paths and longitudinal impact of telework on health: the TeleHealth survey–data linkage study protocol

Article Text

Article menu

Download PDFPDF

Occupational and environmental medicine
Protocol
Exploring the causal paths and longitudinal impact of telework on health: the TeleHealth survey–data linkage study protocol
  1. Eduardo Antonio Bracho Montes de Oca1,2,3,
  2. Laura Int Panis1,2,3,
  3. Mathieu Verbrugghe4,
  4. Els De Waegeneer4,5,
  5. Barbara Cagnie2,
  6. Bas de Geus6,
  7. Robby De Pauw2,3
  1. 1IACCHOS, Universite catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
  2. 2Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
  3. 3Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussel, Belgium
  4. 4Mensura Externe dienst voor preventie en bescherming, Brussel, Belgium
  5. 5Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
  6. 6IACCHOS, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
  1. Correspondence to Mr Eduardo Antonio Bracho Montes de Oca; eduardo.bracho{at}uclouvain.be

Abstract

Background The transition from traditional office work to telework has accelerated significantly since the late 20th century, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite its widespread adoption, the long-term health impacts of telework remain unclear. This study seeks to clarify the telework–health relationship by integrating longitudinal self-reported health data with health-related administrative records.

Methods and analysis An online self-reported longitudinal survey with four follow-ups of 6 months each, starting in November 2024, will be set up and linked with administrative data sources. In total, a non-probabilistic sample of 5000 non-teleworkers and teleworkers will be recruited. This survey will mainly assess the effect of teleworking on mental (eg, depression and anxiety) and physical (eg, pain) health. Administrative data (eg, healthcare consumption contacts and socioeconomic status) will be extracted from Belgian administrative data sources (Statistics Belgium and the InterMutualistic Agency) for the same period. This administrative data will be linked to the survey data using the Social Security ID. The underlying relationships between telework and health will be analysed via regression models and mediation models embedded in the natural effects framework. The analysis will aim to (1) identify the impact of telework on self-reported health and administrative data, (2) identify the moderators and mediators between the telework–health relationship, (3) understand the long-term patterns of telework and health interaction and (4) predict the health outcomes of teleworkers. To mitigate biases associated with non-probabilistic samples and attrition, standardised probability weights scoring will be derived from the data.

Ethics and dissemination This study involves human participants and has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Universitair Ziekenhuis Gent (Nr°. ONZ-2023–0630). The participants will participate in the study after signing an informed consent form. The study will be disseminated in academic journals, on (social) media and on the project website.

  • EPIDEMIOLOGY
  • PUBLIC HEALTH
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-096105

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Contributors RDP, BdG and BC conceptualised the project and acquired the funding. BC supervised the project. EABMdO and LIP designed the methodology. MV and EDW supported the development of the survey methodology. EABMdO wrote the original draft and is the guarantor. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript.

    • Funding This work was supported by the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO), and Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) under the Weave grant, under grant number G099523N. FWO is the lead agency.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were involved in the design, conduct, reporting or dissemination plans of this research. Refer to the Methods section for further details.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.