Ambulatory heart rate of professional taxi drivers while driving without their typical psychosocial work stressors: a pilot study

Abstract

BackgroundFew studies have examined ambulatory cardiovascular physiological parameters of taxi drivers while driving in relation to their occupational hazards. This study aims to investigate and quantify the impact of worksite physical hazards as a whole on ambulatory heart rate of professional taxi drivers while driving without their typical worksite psychosocial stressors.MethodsAmbulatory heart rate (HRdriving) of 13 non-smoking male taxi drivers (24 to 67 years old) while driving was continuously assessed on their 6-hour experimental on-road driving in Los Angeles. Percent maximum HR range (PMHRdriving) of the drivers while driving was estimated based on the individual HRdriving values and US adult population resting HR (HRrest) reference data. For analyses, the HRdriving and PMHRdriving data were split and averaged into 5-min segments. Five physical hazards inside taxi cabs were also monitored while driving. Work stress and work hours on typical work days were self-reported.ResultsThe means of the ambulatory 5-min HRdriving and PMHRdriving values of the 13 drivers were 80.5 bpm (11.2 bpm higher than their mean HRrest) and 10.7 % (range, 5.7 to 19.9 %), respectively. The means were lower than the upper limits of ambulatory HR and PMHR for a sustainable 8-hour work (35 bpm above HRrest and 30 % PMHR), although 15–27 % of the 5-min HRdriving and PMHRdriving values of one driver were higher than the limits. The levels of the five physical hazards among the drivers were modest: temperature (26.4 ± 3.0 °C), relative humidity (40.7 ± 10.4 %), PM2.5 (21.5 ± 7.9 μg/m3), CO2 (1,267.1 ± 580.0 ppm) and noise (69.7 ± 3.0 dBA). The drivers worked, on average, 72 h per week and more than half of them reported that their job were often stressful.ConclusionsThe impact of physical worksite hazards alone on ambulatory HR of professional taxi drivers in Los Angeles generally appeared to be minor. Future ambulatory heart rate studies including both physical and psychosocial hazards of professional taxi drivers are warranted.

Cardiovascular health status of taxi/for-hire vehicle drivers in the United States: A systematic review

“…Study sample sizes varied greatly (n = 13-751). With the exception of one study which utilized a stratified random sampling approach (Choi et al, 2016), all employed convenience sampling methods. Fourteen studies were cross-sectional, one study was a 12-week intervention to increase PA among drivers with follow-ups at 4, 8, and 12 weeks (23), and one study was a health fair screening which included follow-ups for insurance, primary care, and additional screenings as appropriate over a six-month period (24).…”

“…Most studies indicated some level of translation or interpretation, with four focus groups in English and one described by the authors as with concurrent Arabic translation (22), focus group facilitators fluent in English and language preferred by the group (5), focus group participants being divided by language (21), multilingual staff surveying participants in their preferred language (27), focus group facilitators fluent in English and Somali (20), questionnaires verbally administered by bicultural research team members (20), and surveys administered orally primarily conducted in English with some partially conducted in Arabic by one of the authors fluent in Arabic (28). Other studies did not report on any translations (4,21,24,(29)(30)(31).…”

“…There was a range of rates of drivers with self-reported diabetes, 9-25% (20,23,24,26,27,30), and 6-9% of drivers overall had elevated blood glucose levels, with higher percentages among those with previously diagnosed diabetes (23,24,27). With regard to air pollution, one Los Angeles-based study found that PM 2.5 levels were better than the cutoff for acceptable limits (29), whereas in New York City, Gany and colleagues (2017) found elevated in-cab PM 2.5 and black carbon levels. Only one study examined sleep and it found that sleep deprivation was a significant concern, and that drivers had higher rates of fatigue and obtained less sleep than a non-driver population (20).…”

“…Adjusted rates have been recommended for specific ethnic/racial groups, such as Asian Indians, with a BMI of≥ 23 considered overweight and ≥25 considered obese (33)(34)(35). Studies reported variable but high rates of overweight/obese BMI: 23% at obese levels (29), 44% overweight and 25% obese (30); results from the same dataset were later reported as 68% overweight or obese (28). Other studies found rates of 77% overweight or obese (24,27), and 81% overweight or obese (23).…”

Investigating Job Stress among Professional Drivers

“…(B. Choi, S. Choi, Jeong, Lee, Shu, Yu, Ko, & Zhu, 2016;Wang & Delp, 2014;Apantaku-Onayemi, Baldyga, Amuwo, Adefuye, Mason, Mitchell, & Blumenthal, 2012;Chen, Chang, Chang, & Christiani, 2005;Hattori & Azami, 2001;Nakano et al, 1998) The relatively high sample size and including different groups of professional light and heavy-vehicle drivers were among the strengths of the present study. Furthermore, a few studies have investigated different domains of stress in professional drivers so far.…”