Occupational stress and its associated health disorders among bus drivers

Abstract

Background: Bus drivers as compared to workers in other jobs, are more likely to experience cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal disorders and musculoskeletal disorders. Occupational stress is believed to play a significant role in causing these problems. The objective of this study is to assess the occupational stress and to find the prevalence of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal disorders among bus drivers and its association if any, with occupational stress. Methods: Cross sectional study was conducted from June 2004 -May 2005 among bus drivers of a Bus terminal of Mumbai city. 210 bus drivers were included in the study. Occupational stress was assessed by using Stress-related health complaints questionnaire. Results: Hypertension was seen among 24%, Dyspepsia, regurgitation among 52%, lower back among 79% of bus drivers. Morbidities were significantly high among the drivers who had high occupational stress score. Conclusions: Occupational stress is associated with hypertension, gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal problems among bus drivers.

Workplace stress and its relation to cardiovascular disease risk factors among bus drivers in Egypt

“…Our results revealed that one third of participants had high blood pressure, which is higher than the national figure (26.8%) (8), and there was a significant association between workplace stress and high blood pressure, even after adjustment for other confounding factors. This finding was similar to others studies (11,16,31,32). The reason why there has been a high prevalence of high blood pressure in the current work may be related to higher percentages of lifestyle risk factors among study participants.…”

“…In this study over 80% of the bus drivers showed varying degrees of workplace stress. In comparison to other studies, lower rates of moderate to high stress were reported among city bus drivers in the Islamic Republic of Iran (74.5%), Mumbai, India (66.2%), and Colombia (40.5%) (15)(16)(17). Bus drivers who encountered stress problems in the present study were characterized by being older, having lower educational achievement, facing more social conflicts and having more experience in driving (> 10 years and PDAR ≥ 0.5).…”

“…We found more reported accidents during the past 12 months (3 of 4) among bus drivers with high stress scores. Other studies have reported a positive association between occupational stress/strain and number of accidents (16,17). Workplace stress and unsafe driving behaviour are among the most important factors associated with the occurrence of work-related accidents among bus drivers (20).…”

Stress-inducing factors among occupational drivers in Karachi, Pakistan

“…In the current study, none of the occupational drivers reported that they had any disease or health problem in the previous 6 months, including any mental or psychological problems. Contrary to this, a study conducted among bus drivers in Mumbai, India, revealed that hypertension, musculoskeletal problems and gastrointestinal diseases were the results of occupational stress among the study population (30). The factors identified were primarily shift schedule, irregular timings of food intake, compromised nutrition, long hours of driving and traffic jams causing occupation-related stress (30).…”

Stres u profesionálních řidičů se zaměřením na řidiče autobusů, preventivní opatření a protistresové programy

“…Dále byl zjištěn signifikantní vztah mezi vnímanou pracovní kontrolou a katecholaminy v moči. Jiná studie provedená na 210 indických řidičích autobusu (Taklikar, 2016), kteří vyplňovali dotazník zdravotních obtíží v souvislosti se stresem, prokázala, že 24 % trpělo hypertenzí, 52 % dyspepsií a regurgitací a 79 % bolestí zad, přičemž míra nemocnosti se zvyšovala úměrně se zvyšující se mírou zaměstnaneckého stresu. Lze shrnout, že řidiči vykazují zvýšenou míru kardiovaskulárních, muskuloskeletárních a gastrointestinálních onemocnění (Kompier, 1996).…”