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Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of two addictive behaviours (regular alcohol consumption and smoking) among professional drivers and its relationship to Job Strain (job stress indicator of the Demand-Control model) and self-reported road safety outcomes. Methods:The study sample was composed by 2445 Colombian professional drivers with an average of 38.01 years of age, a mean of driving experience of 15.81 years and, in average, 7.35 hours of daily driving. Participants of this study had a mean of 0.41 road accidents and 0.50 traffic fines registered in the last two years. It was designed a questionnaire composed by three sections: a) socio-demographic data, including items such as gender, age, and driving habits, b) Job Strain (JCQ), and c) self-reported habits related to addictive behaviors, in particular smoking and alcohol consumption.Results: It was found that 20.3% of professional drivers have the habit of actively consuming tobacco, and 27.9% of drinking alcohol regularly. Furthermore, 28% of the sample presents Job Strain. Further, significant trends between smoking and: a) gender (i.e., being a male driver), and b) the fact of having Job Strain were found. Regarding alcohol consumption, two-step cluster analysis allowed to establish profiles of drivers when combining the fact of drinking alcohol regularly (or not) and the self-reported rates of fines and traffic accidents registered for the last two years. Finally, significant differences in Job Strain were established between drivers in both clusters, being the mean score higher for drivers reporting regular alcohol consumption and higher rates of fines and crashes. Conclusion:This research suggests the need for the development of comprehensive interventions on psychosocial factors at work and lifestyle issues among professional drivers, based on the reported rates of the two addressed addictive behaviors and its relationship to adverse health, occupational and safety outcomes.

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The social determinants of health influence both psychosocial risks and protective factors, especially in high-demanding contexts, such as the mobility of drivers and non-drivers. Recent evidence suggests that exploring socioeconomic status (SES), health and lifestyle-related factors might contribute to a better understanding of road traffic crashes (RTCs). Thus, the aim of this study was to construct indices for the assessment of crash rates and mobility patterns among young Colombians who live in the central region of the country. The specific objectives were developing SES, health and lifestyle indices, and assessing the self-reported RTCs and mobility features depending on these indices. A sample of 561 subjects participated in this cross-sectional study. Through a reduction approach of Principal Component Analysis (PCA), three indices were constructed. Mean and frequency differences were contrasted for the self-reported mobility, crash rates, age, and gender. As a result, SES, health and lifestyle indices explained between 56.3–67.9% of the total variance. Drivers and pedestrians who suffered crashes had higher SES. A healthier lifestyle is associated with cycling, but also with suffering more bike crashes; drivers and those reporting traffic crashes have shown greater psychosocial and lifestyle-related risk factors. Regarding gender differences, men are more likely to engage in road activities, as well as to suffer more RTCs. On the other hand, women present lower healthy lifestyle-related indices and a less active implication in mobility. Protective factors such as a high SES and a healthier lifestyle are associated with RTCs suffered by young Colombian road users. Given the differences found in this regard, a gender perspective for understanding RTCs and mobility is highly suggestible, considering that socio-economic gaps seem to differentially affect mobility and crash-related patterns.

Social and health problems imply an impact on society. The main objective of this study is to provide an overview of how Spanish people perceive cancer, terrorism, cardiovascular diseases, crime, AIDS, drugs, and traffic accidents, finding out whether they assess the importance of these issues in correspondence with their actual severity. The study used a full sample of 1206 Spaniards (51.6% females and 48.4% males) who responded to a computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) survey on the significance of these social and health-related problems, assessed through a zero to ten Likert scale. The perceived severity of the problems was considered taking into account the official data of deaths reported by governmental institutions. For the comparison of mean values, the One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test was used. Results show high average values for all the problems. The most concerning elements are cancer (M = 9.28 ± 1.24) and terrorism (M = 9.22 ± 1.47). Cardiovascular diseases have the lowest scores (M = 8.29 ± 1.64). There is a good adjustment between real and subjective perception, but some issues are either underestimated or overestimated. Women assessed all of them as more important than men, and people over 65 gave all the issues more value than younger people. It is important that Spaniards understand the objective severity of these issues, thus allowing for more interventions by governments, education, and mass media.