AUTHOR=Wang Zicheng , Wu Qiushi , Guo Murong 

TITLE=Association Between Commute Duration and Sickness Absence in the Context of China: Mechanism and Heterogeneous Effects

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.611162

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.611162

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background: Most employees in urban China have experienced a heavy commuting burden, which has become an urgent issue that should be solved in the new urbanization strategy process. However, the exploration of the relationship between the commute duration and sickness absence remains scant in China, and no discussion has been made to analyze the mechanism linking the commute duration and sickness absence.
Methods: Using a unique dataset of the 2013 China’s Matched Employer–Employee Survey, the present study applies a two-level random-intercept Poisson model to explore the association.
Results: Long commute is significantly related with increased sickness absence. Longer commuting is associated with poorer self-rated health status and a higher degree of psychological depression, and it also is highly related with a decrease in sleeping time. Moreover, the increased commuting duration is associated with lower work effort (working hours).
Conclusion: A longer commute duration induces lower productivities through increased sickness absence, and the potential link of commute duration and sickness absence is mainly transmitted through their health-related outcomes and work effort.