Evaluation of Cardiovascular System of Foreign Business Traveler using Wearable Devices and Application to Occupational Health

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K07901
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 52010:General internal medicine-related
• Research Institution: Nippon Medical School
• Principal Investigator: Tsukada Yayoi 日本医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (20301567)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 安武 正弘 日本医科大学, 大学院医学研究科, 大学院教授 (70281433) ; 清水 渉 日本医科大学, 大学院医学研究科, 大学院教授 (50399606)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 海外業務渡航 / 産業医学 / COVID-19 / ビジネス渡航 / 日本

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The objective was to identify the health issues faced by travelers on short-term business trips in the post-COVID-19 era. A survey of 3,845 public companies in Japan in September 2021 showed that 131 out of 251 responding companies had foreign travel requirements, with 64% stating that business travel would remain important. Before the pandemic, illness during travel was the top health concern for business travelers, followed by the prevention of infectious diseases and lifestyle disease management. In the post-pandemic era, 48% of the responses were for infectious diseases, including COVID-19, followed by 40% for travel-related diseases and 25% for lifestyle-related diseases. The study concludes that business travel will continue to be necessary in the post-COVID-19 era due to global economic and social activities, and that comprehensive health management is desirable for business travelers to address the prevention of infectious diseases and daily health management.

Free Research Field

総合診療・総合内科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

社会経済活動のグローバル化に伴い、ビジネス渡航は拡大傾向にあった。しかし、COVID-19パンデミックにより海外出張は停止し、ICTの活用により海外渡航の役割も変化した。本研究では、ポスト・パンデミック時代のビジネス渡航を展望し、出張者の健康課題を調査した。その結果、アジア・北米圏において製造業を中心に業務渡航が継続されることが明らかになった。新興再燃感染症の懸念に対し、予防だけでなく、出張・復帰の業務にも支援が求められていた。また、出張者の心身の健康を維持するため包括的な健康管理が必要であることも明らかにした。本研究は、新たな国際化時代における産業衛生管理の必要性を明確にした意義がある。