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. 2014 Jun;57(6):615-26.
doi: 10.1002/ajim.22293. Epub 2014 Jan 4.

Obesity and other risk factors: the national survey of U.S. long-haul truck driver health and injury

W Karl Sieber  1 , Cynthia F Robinson, Jan Birdsey, Guang X Chen, Edward M Hitchcock, Jennifer E Lincoln, Akinori Nakata, Marie H Sweeney
Affiliations

Obesity and other risk factors: the national survey of U.S. long-haul truck driver health and injury

W Karl Sieber et al. Am J Ind Med. 2014 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Drivers of heavy and tractor-trailer trucks accounted for 56% of all production and nonsupervisory employees in the truck transportation industry in 2011. There are limited data for illness and injury in long-haul truck drivers, which prompted a targeted national survey.

Methods: Interviewers collected data during 2010 from 1,670 long-haul truck drivers at 32 truck stops across the 48 contiguous United States that were used to compute prevalence estimates for self-reported health conditions and risk factors.

Results: Obesity (69% vs. 31%, P < 0.01) and current smoking (51% vs. 19%, P < 0.01) were twice as prevalent in long-haul truck drivers as in the 2010 U.S. adult working population. Sixty-one percent reported having two or more of the risk factors: hypertension, obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, no physical activity, 6 or fewer hours of sleep per 24-hr period.

Conclusion: Survey findings suggest a need for targeted interventions and continued surveillance for long-haul truck drivers.

Keywords: health; intervention; risk factor; surveillance; survey; truck driver; work practices.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Statement: The authors report no conflicts of interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Locations of 32 truck stops where long-haul truck drivers were surveyed, Survey of U.S. Long-Haul Truck Drivers, Fall 2010.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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