ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2021
No evidence for an effect of working from home on neck pain and neck disability among Swiss office workers: Short-term impact of COVID-19.
Article in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04169646 (On-site Multi-component Intervention to Improve Productivity and Reduce the Economic and Personal Burden of Neck Pain in Swiss Office-Workers), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
On-site Multi-component Intervention to Improve Productivity and Reduce the Economic and Personal Burden of Neck Pain in Swiss Office-Workers
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Teleworking and Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review of working conditions and occupational health in home office.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2022Pooled it
- The Effectiveness of a Specific Exercise Program in Alleviating Work-Related Neck and Upper Back Pain and Improving Mood State in Various Occupational Populations-A Randomized Controlled Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Trial
- Work Disability and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Teleworkers: A Scoping Review.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Chronic Neck Pain Prevalence Before and After COVID-19 Restrictions and Its Relationship With Digital Device Screen Viewing: A Population Study.Annals of rehabilitation medicine · 2024Article
- Assessment of Forward Head Posture and Ergonomics in Young IT Professionals - Reasons to Worry?La Medicina del lavoro · 2023Article
- Chronic pain and associated factors in remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2023Article
- Telework Conditions, Ergonomic and Psychosocial Risks, and Musculoskeletal Problems in the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2022Article
- Home office versus ergonomic workstation - is the ergonomic risk increased when working at the dining table? An inertial motion capture based pilot study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Article
- Perceived privacy in home office and musculoskeletal complaints: a test of family-work conflict, work-family conflict, and relaxation as mediators.SN social sciences · 2022Article
- COVID-19, the Built Environment, and Health.Environmental health perspectives · 2021Article
- Working from home and productivity under the COVID-19 pandemic: Using survey data of four manufacturing firms.PloS one · 2021Article
- Increased Working From Home in Vocational Counseling Psychologists During COVID-19: Associated Change in Productivity and Job Satisfaction.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 8 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of working from home on neck pain (NP) among office workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsParticipants from two Swiss organisations, aged 18-65 years and working from home during the lockdown (n = 69) were included. Baseline data collected in January 2020 before the lockdown (office work) were compared with follow-up data in April 2020 during lockdown (working from home). The primary outcome of NP was assessed with a measure of intensity and disability. Secondary outcomes were quality of workstation ergonomics, number of work breaks, and time spent working at the computer. Two linear mixed effects models were fitted to the data to estimate the change in NP.
resultsNo clinically relevant change in the average NP intensity and neck disability was found between measurement time points. Each working hour at the computer increased NP intensity by 0.36 points (95% CI: 0.09 to 0.62) indicating strong evidence. No such effect was found for neck disability. Each work break taken reduced neck disability by 2.30 points (95% CI: - 4.18 to - 0.42, evidence). No such effect was found for NP intensity. There is very strong evidence that workstation ergonomics was poorer at home.
conclusionThe number of work breaks and hours spent at the computer seem to have a greater effect on NP than the place of work (office, at home), measurement time point (before COVID-19, during lockdown) or the workstation ergonomics. Further research should investigate the effect of social and psychological factors.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04169646. Registered 15 November 2019-Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04169646 .
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.