Factors associated with reportable crash among commercial truck drivers in a large, multicenter cross-sectional study

Background

Commercial Truck drivers are a large occupational population with reportedly poor health, commonly attributed to lifestyle and work environment. Little data exist that report prevalence of factors within this population or relationship of these factors on crash risk. This study reports the prevalence of these factors and relationships between these factors and reportable truck crashes from a large cross section of truck drivers in the U.S. Methods Truck drivers (n=817) were enrolled in a cross-sectional study of health metrics, calculating the prevalence of specific health conditions, and assessing relationships between health conditions to self-reported crash data. Drivers were enrolled at trucking shows, truck stops and on-line. Participants completed computerized questionnaires and had both anthropometry and serum cholesterol measured. Results Most participants were male (n=705, 86.3%), obese (n=507, 62.1%), with a mean age of 47.3 (SD± 10.5) years and professional driver employment of 17.2 (SD± 11.8) years. Many (n=326, 39.9%) had a reportable crash in their career. Older age (p=0.0002), hip-to-waist ratio (p=0.008), longer professional driver employment (p<0.0001), male gender (p=0.001), snoring at night (p=0.020), variable driving shift (p=0.010), presence of low back pain (p=0.008), having health insurance (p=0.007), urban cell phone use (p=0.0002), greater anxiety (p=0.031), history of cardiovascular disease (p=0.046), and physical exhaustion (p=0.047) were associated with increased risk of crash. Additional factors were trending toward significance (p<0.20). Further analyses are planned. Conclusions There are many modifiable factors related to having a reportable accident in this large, cross-sectional population. Ongoing analyses may provide additional insight to these relationships.