Common Mental Disorders in Public Transportation Drivers in Lima, Peru

Abstract

BackgroundTraffic related injuries are leading contributors to burden of disease worldwide. In developing countries a high proportion of them can be attributed to public transportation vehicles. Several mental disorders including alcohol and drug abuse, psychotic disorders, mental stress, productivity pressure, and low monetary income were found predictors of high rates of traffic related injuries in public transportation drivers. The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders in the population of public transportation drivers of buses and rickshaws in Lima, Peru.Methodology/Principal FindingsCross sectional study. A sample of bus and rickshaw drivers was systematically selected from formal public transportation companies using a snowball approach. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires for assessing major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms, alcohol abuse, and burnout syndrome. Socio demographic information was also collected. The analyses consisted of descriptive measurement of outcomes taking into account both between and within cluster standard deviation (BCSD and WCSD). A total of 278 bus and 227 rickshaw drivers out of 25 companies agreed to participate in the study. BCSD for major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms and burnout syndrome was not found significant (p>0.05). The estimated prevalence of each variable was 13.7% (IC95%: 10.7–16.6%), 24.1% (IC95%: 19.4–28.8%) and 14.1% (IC95%: 10.8–17.4%) respectively. The estimated prevalence of alcohol abuse was 75.4% (IC95%: 69–81.7%, BCSD = 12.2%, WCSD = 41.9%, intra class correlation (ICC): 7.8%).ConclusionCommon mental disorders such as alcohol abuse, major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms and burnout syndrome presented higher rates in public transportation drivers than general population.

Assessment of mental health status and its effective components among professional urban bus drivers in Qom Province, Iran, in 2014

“…The information in this study showed that more than 40% of drivers had experienced symptoms of anxiety and sleeplessness. These symptoms were reported in 23.6% and 14.5% of drivers of Peru (16) and the United States (1). Since driving requires continuous analysis of acquired data from the vehicle's condition and surroundings as well as a prediction of behaviors of other drivers, anxiety would be a destructive factor leading to accidents (7).…”

“…Although there was no comprehensive information about depression among drivers, some studies have focused on this issue. Depression has been reported among 26.9% of truck drivers in the United States (12), 33% of taxi drivers in Nigeria (1), and 15.6% of drivers in Peru (16). Depression affects the drivers' ability to focus (6) and was introduced as one of the psychological consequences of driving (8).…”

“…It has been reported that 97.9% of drivers had musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) (11), about 60% of drivers experienced sleep problems (1), 13.6% suffered from depression (12), 43.7% of drivers reported sleepiness while driving (13), and more than half of drivers had blood pressure problems (14). Furthermore, weight gain and obesity were observed among drivers (15), 23.6% of drivers showed symptoms of anxiety (16), 55% of drivers were fatigued during their performance of activities (17), 61% had poor sleep quality (14), 76% of drivers had high levels of occupational stress (18) that were related to cancer, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, crashes, and low mental health (6), and 75% of drivers were drug abusers (16). A study analyzed 32 researches conducted from 1995 to 2012 among 151,644 drivers, and the results demonstrated that 19% of drivers had sleep disorders, 33% had diabetes, 23% had high or low blood pressure, and 45% were obese and had sleep disorders.…”

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“…Os estudos selecionados foram realizados no Brasil (N=12) (9,(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25) , no Peru (N=2) (26)(27) , na Índia (N=2) (28)(29) , na Turquia (N=1) (30) , em Taiwan (N=1) (31) , na Tailândia (N=1) (32) , na Coreia do Sul (N=1) (33) e na Sérvia (N=1) (34) . Dentre os 21 estudos selecionados, dois foram teses de doutorado (15)(16) e duas dissertações de mestrado (9,17) .…”

Work-related stress and role of personality in a sample of Italian bus drivers

“…It has been suggested that some personality traits may be potential predictors of hazardous driving behaviors [16]. Ruiz-Grosso et al [17] have shown that common mental disorders such as alcohol abuse, major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms, and burnout syndrome are higher in public transportation drivers than in the general population [17].…”