Home Indoor Air Quality and Cognitive Function over One Year for People Working Remotely During COVID-19

Details

• Personal Author:
  Allen JG ; Bliss M ; Dedesko S ; Miller SL ; Parikh S ; Xu J ; Young AS ; Zanobetti A
• Description:
  The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic triggered an increase in remote work-from-home for office workers. Given that many homes now function as offices despite not being designed to support office work, it is critical to research the impact of indoor air quality (IAQ) in homes on the cognitive performance of people working from home. In this study, we followed 206 office workers across the U.S. over one year under remote or hybrid-remote settings during 2021-2022. Participants placed two real-time, consumer-grade indoor environmental monitors in their home workstation area and bedroom. Using a custom smartphone application geofenced to their residential address, participants responded to surveys and periodic cognitive function tests, including the Stroop color-word interference test, Arithmetic two-digit addition/subtraction test, and Compound Remote Associates Task (cRAT). Exposures assessed included carbon dioxide (CO2) and thermal conditions (indoor heat index: a combination of temperature and relative humidity) averaged over 30 min prior to each cognitive test. In fully adjusted longitudinal mixed models (n ≤ 121), we found that indoor thermal conditions at home were associated with cognitive function outcomes non-linearly (p < 0.05), with poorer cognitive performance on the Stroop test and poorer creative problem-solving on the cRAT when conditions were either too warm or too cool. Most indoor CO2 levels were <640 ppm, but there was still a slight association between higher CO2 and poorer cognitive performance on Stroop (p = 0.09). Our findings highlight the need to enhance home indoor environmental quality for optimal cognitive function during remote work, with benefits for both employees and employers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Communicable Diseases Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Temperature Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Buildings Cognitive Function COVID-19 IAQ IEQ Indoor Air Quality Indoor Environments Longitudinal Study Occupational Office Workers Productivity Remote Temperature Effects Work Arrangements

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• ISSN:
  0360-1323
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Georgia ; Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  257
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069657
• Citation:
  Build Environ 2024 Jun; 257:111551
• Contact Point Address:
  Anna S. Young, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
• Email:
  ayoung@mail.harvard.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Building and Environment
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:07200ffd0b388b91db79d68036b7cbe3d80161f59b51ca92a347d9ce517d733c11c7c646c727b745778942a1f338ce54faa840483097ee28a27f932b4a5f573e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208041/cdc_208041_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.32 MB ]