Occupational health profile of Canadian Maritimes truck drivers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There are over 12,000 professional truck drivers in the Canadian Maritime provinces, with the majority being in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Previous studies have focused on the health of Canadian and American truck drivers but the occupational health status of truck drivers in the Maritime Provinces remains undocumented. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to provide a general, occupational health and demographic characteristics description of professional truck drivers in the Maritimes. METHODS: One-hundred and four male truck drivers from the Canadian Maritime Provinces volunteered for this study. Nine occupational health indicators were measured (seven were self-reported via questionnaire and two were physical measurements). Participants self-reported their age, years of truck driving experience and education. RESULTS: Only one-quarter of the current sample had no health conditions. In contrast, more than half were obese, one third had back problems, and one-sixth had a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). The group comparison analysis showed that the group without health condition was younger and more educated than the group with multiple health conditions. For this study, age and low rate of education were associated with an increased number of health conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to health profiles of other populations of North American truck drivers, this study suggests that the majority of truck drivers in the Canadian Maritime Provinces have at least one poor indicator of occupational health.