This study aimed at describing the problem of Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs) in Saudi Arabia and their impact on the working population in terms of reduced productivity. Data on road traffic injuries and deaths were collected for the period of 1997 to 2002 and compared to population census during the same period. Potential Productive Years of Life Lost (PPYLL) was calculated. The total number of deaths due to RTIs was 21905 deaths and the total PPYLL due to RTIs was 459820.81. In all age groups, the losses in males were 1.91 to 8.52 times greater than in females, the differences were statistically significant. Both males and females showed an increasing trend of PPYLL for 20-29 years, 30-39 years, and 10-19 years old age groups. The increasing trend was more impressive in males. PPYLL average was 50000 years annually in the productive years of life in years 1997 to 2002, with about 33 % increase in 2002. RTIs are a major health problem affecting all age groups; working population are more vulnerable due to commuting. Losses in productive years are more prominent and serious in productive age groups.

Abstract:Background: The role of Physical activity in the protection from cardiovascular disease risk factors (CVDr) is well known but the role of occupational and commuting physical activities is still controversial. Blue-collar workers constitute a group where the association of occupational and commuting activities to CVDr is still unclear. Objective: is to identify the effect of occupational and occupationally related physical activities on CVDr among blue collar-collar workers. Study design: Through a cross sectional study, the occupational, commuting and leisure physical activities of a representative sample of 356 blue-collar workers were evaluated by interview questionnaire. Their clinical profile {body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHr), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP)} and biochemical profile {total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides(TG), High density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), fasting blood sugar (FBS), and glycosylated Hemoglobin (Hb A1c)} were measured. Results: The rate and median duration of occupational, commuting and leisure physical activities were low. The mean of all evaluated anthropometric and biochemical parameters were within the desired levels except BMI (26.28). The occupational activity and the total sum of all types of activities were negatively and significantly correlating with all clinical parameters of CVDr, while their correlation with all biochemical parameters were non-significant. The association between other