Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jun 9;9(6):e94602.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094602. eCollection 2014.

Driving: a road to unhealthy lifestyles and poor health outcomes

Ding Ding  1 , Klaus Gebel  2 , Philayrath Phongsavan  1 , Adrian E Bauman  1 , Dafna Merom  3
Affiliations

Driving: a road to unhealthy lifestyles and poor health outcomes

Ding Ding et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Driving is a common part of modern society, but its potential effects on health are not well understood.

Purpose: The present cross-sectional study (n = 37,570) examined the associations of driving time with a series of health behaviors and outcomes in a large population sample of middle-aged and older adults using data from the Social, Economic, and Environmental Factor Study conducted in New South Wales, Australia, in 2010.

Methods: Multiple logistic regression was used in 2013 to examine the associations of usual daily driving time with health-related behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, diet, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep) and outcomes (obesity, general health, quality of life, psychological distress, time stress, social functioning), adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics.

Results: Findings suggested that longer driving time was associated with higher odds for smoking, insufficient physical activity, short sleep, obesity, and worse physical and mental health. The associations consistently showed a dose-response pattern and more than 120 minutes of driving per day had the strongest and most consistent associations with the majority of outcomes.

Conclusion: This study highlights driving as a potential lifestyle risk factor for public health. More population-level multidisciplinary research is needed to understand the mechanism of how driving affects health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Lyons G, Chatterjee K (2008) A human perspective on the daily commute: Costs, benefits and trade-offs. Transport Reviews 28(2): 181–198.
    1. Dora C, Phillips M, Danzon M, Molterer W (2000) Transport, environment and health. World Health Organization Regional Publications - European Series 89: 4–54.
    1. Kageyama T, Nishikido N, Kobayashi T, Kurokawa Y, Kaneko T, et al. (1998) Long commuting time, extensive overtime, and sympathodominant state assessed in terms of short-term heart rate variability among male white-collar workers in the Tokyo megalopolis. Industrial Health 36(3): 209–217. - PubMed
    1. Rasmussen C, Knapp TJ, Garner L (2000) Driving-induced stress in urban college students. Percept Mot Skills 90(2): 437–443. - PubMed
    1. Christian TJ (2012) Trade-offs between commuting time and health-related activities. J Urban Health 89(5): 746–757. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources