RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Working nights and lower leisure-time physical activity associate with chronic pain in Southern African truck drivers: a cross-sectional study
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.09.23.308213
DO 10.1101/2020.09.23.308213
A1 Antonia L Wadley
A1 Stella Iacovides
A1 Johanna Roche
A1 Karine Scheuermaier
A1 WD Francois Venter
A1 Alinda G Vos
A1 Samanta T Lalla-Edward
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/24/2020.09.23.308213.abstract
AB Background Globally the trucking industry employs millions of people. Recently the prevalence of chronic pain in Southern African truck drivers was reported at 10%. We investigated factors associated with chronic pain in truck drivers including mental health, physical activity, and sleep, as no study has done so.Methods Southern African truck drivers were recruited at truck stops in Gauteng and Free State Provinces, South Africa (n=614). Chronic pain was defined as pain present for at least the last three months. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, post-traumatic stress disorder with the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), exposure to traumatic events with the Life Events Checklist-5 (LEC-5) and daytime sleepiness with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Sleep quality was measured on a four-point Likert scale. Leisure-time physical activity was measured using the Godin-Shephard leisure-time physical activity questionnaire. Associations between these factors, demographic factors and chronic pain were investigated.Results Six hundred and fourteen male truck drivers were recruited. Multivariate analysis showed that working ≥ 2 nights/week (OR=2.68, 95% CI=1.55-4.68) was associated with chronic pain and physical activity was protective (OR=0.97, 95% CI 0.95-0.98). In an exploratory analysis, greater depressive symptoms (p=0.004), daytime sleepiness (p=0.01) and worse sleep quality (p=0.001) was associated with working ≥ 2 nights/week. Lower leisure-time physical activity was associated with worse sleep quality (p=0.006), but not daytime sleepiness or depressive symptoms (p>0.05).Conclusions There is a clear relationship between working nights and activity levels, and chronic pain, sleep quality, and depression in truck drivers.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.