01-10-2012 | Original Article
Traffic accidents and related injuries in Iranian professional drivers
Published in: Journal of Public Health | Issue 5/2012
Login to get accessAbstract
Aim
The WHO statistics show that Iran has one of the highest rates of morbidities and mortalities due to traffic accidents in the world, which occurs in professional and nonprofessional drivers and motorcyclists, pedestrians, etc. This study investigates the rate of accidents in heavy vehicle drivers and related factors.
Subjects and methods
This study was performed on 1,136 heavy vehicle drivers who presented for periodic examinations to one of the official centers for examining drivers in the city of Yazd, Iran. Necessary information such as the history of traffic accidents, age, work experience, weekly working hours, etc were gathered using a checklist.
Results
The rate of reported accidents was 88 cases (7.7%) in 1 year. A significant relationship was observed between age, body mass index (BMI), working hours, and shift working with the rate of accidents (P < 0.05). However, no significant relationships were found between having a second occupation, chronic diseases, and work experience with the rate of accidents (P > 0.05). Even after adjustment of the study variables by regression analysis, a significant relationship was seen between traffic accidents and weekly working hours, BMI, and age over 60 years old and less than 29 years old (P < 0.05).
Conclusion
This study shows that increased risk of traffic accidents is associated with increasing work hours. Therefore, the reduction of work hours for professional drivers may decrease the rate of accidents and related injuries.