Pin-Chieh Wang1, Linda Delp2. 1. Department of Radiation-Oncology and Epidemiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 2. Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Taxi drivers work long hours for low wages and report hypertension, weight gain, and musculoskeletal pain associated with the sedentary nature of their job, stressful working conditions, and poor dietary habits. They also experience a high work-related fatality rate. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to examine the association of taxi drivers' health status and level of job stress with work-related injury and determine if a potential interaction exists. METHODS: A survey of 309 Los Angeles taxi drivers provides basic data on health status, job stress, and work-related injuries. We further analyzed the data using a Modified Poisson regression approach with a robust error variance to estimate the relative risk (RR) and the 95% confidence intervals (CI) of work-related injuries. Focus group results supplemented and helped interpret the quantitative data. RESULTS: The joint effect of good health and low job stress was associated with a large reduction in the incidence of injuries, consistent with the hypothesis that health status and stress levels modify each other on the risk of work-related injury. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the combination of stress reduction and health management programs together with changes in the stressful conditions of the job may provide targeted avenues to prevent injuries.
BACKGROUND: Taxi drivers work long hours for low wages and report hypertension, weight gain, and musculoskeletal pain associated with the sedentary nature of their job, stressful working conditions, and poor dietary habits. They also experience a high work-related fatality rate. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to examine the association of taxi drivers' health status and level of job stress with work-related injury and determine if a potential interaction exists. METHODS: A survey of 309 Los Angeles taxi drivers provides basic data on health status, job stress, and work-related injuries. We further analyzed the data using a Modified Poisson regression approach with a robust error variance to estimate the relative risk (RR) and the 95% confidence intervals (CI) of work-related injuries. Focus group results supplemented and helped interpret the quantitative data. RESULTS: The joint effect of good health and low job stress was associated with a large reduction in the incidence of injuries, consistent with the hypothesis that health status and stress levels modify each other on the risk of work-related injury. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the combination of stress reduction and health management programs together with changes in the stressful conditions of the job may provide targeted avenues to prevent injuries.
Entities:
Keywords:
Stressors; health promotion; taxi driver injuries; worker alliance
Authors: BongKyoo Choi; SangJun Choi; JeeYeon Jeong; JiWon Lee; Shi Shu; Nu Yu; SangBaek Ko; Yifang Zhu Journal: Ann Occup Environ Med Date: 2016-10-06