The impact of home office setup due to COVID-19 pandemic on IT professionals′ physical health: a systematic review

Abstract Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic represented a great reset in terms of how we work; it affected all organizational levels and brought up unexpected challenges, forcing a lot of workers to shift into working from home. A home office may not be suitable for IT professionals as it is not usually designed ergonomically for long-term use. This study aimed to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on IT professionals’ physical health who hypothetically deal with non-ergonomic workstations at home and with modified workloads. Material and method The research was conducted based on PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes) methodology. The scientific material was selected through a search in PubMed, Scopus, Clarivate Analytics, and Google Scholar databases; the eligible studies were published in 2020 and 2021, involved IT professionals who shifted to home office due to the COVID-19 pandemic and analysed the physical health issues related to these changes. Results Physical health outcomes as neck pain and other musculoskeletal complaints, along with increased stress and anxiety, as mental issues, were reported in most of the participants interviewed in the selected studies; the musculoskeletal complaints were strongly influenced by the unexpected changes that came along with working from home in terms of workload and workstations. On the other hand, having a room dedicated to professional activities, an ergonomic workstation, knowing how to adjust the workstation, and increased satisfaction with indoor environmental quality factors in the workspaces were associated with a lower chance of developing new health problems during this period. Conclusion The present study confirms that in the case of IT professionals there is a strong association between working from home, poor ergonomic workstations and high prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints, and, especially, an increased occurrence of neck pain.