Ss35-04 the Effect of Working From Home on Social Isolation During the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Moderating Effect of Age

Introduction During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people were suddenly forced to work from home. Home workers might have felt more socially isolated than location workers, and this phenomenon might be more pronounced with advancing age. This study investigated the longitudinal association between working from home and feelings of social isolation, and the moderating effect of age in this. Materials and Methods Longitudinal data of 41,147 Dutch workers from 19 online questionnaire rounds of the Lifelines COVID-19 cohort were used (March 2020-January 2022). Social isolation was assessed with questions from the UCLA Loneliness Scale resulting in a sum score (0-6). Negative Binomial Generalized Estimating Equations were used to study the association between work situation and feelings of social isolation. An interaction between work situation and age was added to study the moderating effect of age. Results Home workers scored on average 56% higher on social isolation than location workers (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.559, 95% CI = 1.529-1.590). Hybrid workers scored 17% higher on social isolation than location workers (IRR = 1.172, 95% CI = 1.145-1.119). There was no moderating effect of age on the association between working from home and social isolation (IRR = 1.000, 95% CI = 0.998-1.002). Conclusions Home and hybrid workers experienced more feelings of social isolation than location workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this relation did not differ by age. Since many workers will continue to (partly) work from home, more research about relevant strategies to prevent social isolation among home workers is recommended.