Association of teleworking and smoking behavior of U.S. wage and salary workers

Introduction The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a major shift in workspace from office to home. This report examined how telecommuting is related to smoking behavior of wage and salary workers. Methods Self‐reported smoking behavior of 1,390 U.S. wage and salary workers aged 16–64 years from the Tobacco Use Supplement of the Current Population Survey 2018/19 were linked to the 2018 American Time Use Survey. Weighted multivariate logistic regression predicting smoking probability and generalized linear regression predicting smoking intensity were used for analysis. Results Almost a fifth (19%) of wage and salary workers reported working from home and over a half (52%) reported working in telecommuting amenable occupations. Nearly 12% were current smokers, smoking 14.7 cigarettes daily on average. Compared to their counterparts, smoking prevalence (percentage points) was lower among those employed in telecommuting amenable occupations (−0.52, p