A systematic review of working conditions and occupational health in home office.

The authors state that the included studies should be interpreted with caution because of their small sample sizes and their very different methods. Most findings are what teleworkers said about themselves in surveys and interviews rather than measured outcomes, so they show reported problems, not proven causes. Ten of the twelve included studies were rated only moderate quality, and several did not report their sample size. Only peer-reviewed journal articles were included, so theses, dissertations and unpublished work were left out. People with disabilities were deliberately excluded because participants had to be in age-appropriate health, so nothing here speaks to them. The search ran from April to June 2020, so research published after that date is not included. The studies measured different things, so the review combines them in a narrative overview rather than pooling results.

The authors reported no potential conflict of interest. The paper carries no funding statement in the text supplied.

Do not read this as proof that working from home causes neck, back and wrist pain. It is a summary of what teleworkers reported in twelve small studies of different designs, and the authors themselves say those findings should be interpreted with caution.