Health Status, Lifestyle Behaviours and Occupational Correlates among Commercial Drivers in Akure, Nigeria (Published)
Commercial drivers are central to Nigeria’s transport economy but face prolonged sitting, long hours, irregular meals and limited access to care. Evidence on the health status of drivers in Ondo State, and on how it differs between intracity and intercity drivers, is limited.To determine the health status and lifestyle behaviours of intracity and intercity commercial drivers in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria, and to examine the association between health status and their socio-demographic and occupational characteristics.A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 429 commercial drivers (260 intercity, 169 intracity) recruited from four motor parks and the taxi drivers’ union in Akure. A validated structured questionnaire assessed self-rated health, functional status, lifestyle behaviours and self-reported medical conditions. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests.Respondents were predominantly male (98.6%), with a mean age of 45.86 ± 11.23 years. Although 52.4% rated themselves very healthy and 61.5% had high functional independence, 30.8% reported at least one medical condition. Back pain (31.0%), body pain (30.1%), hypertension (22.6%) and arthritis (21.0%) were most common. Alcohol use (73.7%), energy drink use (80.0%), smoking (38.9%), meal skipping (31.4%) and unhealthy snacking (46.6%) were frequent. Health status was significantly associated with age, route type, vehicle type, driving experience and continuous driving time, but not with income or education. Positive self-rated health masks a substantial burden of musculoskeletal and cardiometabolic conditions and risky lifestyle behaviours. Occupational rather than socio-economic factors were linked to health status, supporting motor park-based screening and occupational health programmes.
Keywords: Commercial drivers, Health Status, Nigeria, lifestyle behaviours, musculoskeletal pain, occupational health
Mobbing and Its Association with Quality Of Life in Health Professionals (Published)
Background and objectives: The impact of mobbing on the quality of life of Health Professionals (HP) has been studied to a limited extent in Greece. The purpose of this study is the effect of mobbing and the effect of demographic characteristics on the quality of life of health professionals. Materials and Methods: In the present cross-sectional study HP from 11 public Greek hospitals are involved. The sample was (N = 1536) HP, (A = 528) and (C = 1008), average age 39.2 years (SD = 10.3 years). A demographic data form and two tools were used anonymously, self-fulfilling. The World Health Organization questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) that measure the quality of life and the WPVB that measures violent psychological behaviour in workplaces. The two-sided level of statistical significance was set at 0.05, while the data analysis was performed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22.0. Results: Women had lower scores in the Mental Health Scale and the quality life level of independence compared to men (p = 0.003). The tendency of individuals to declare that they had no health problem was associated with higher scores in the four domains of life quality (p <0.001). The tendency of individuals to declare that they have been subjected to mobbing in all domains (p <0.001) was associated with poor quality of life in all its factors (p <0.001). Married suffering mobbing reported better QOL (p = 0.003) and a healthier environment (p = 0.012) than married with children with poor QOL (p = 0.001), poor physical (p <0.001) and mental health (p = 0.009) and reduced social relationships (p = 0.001). The HP (doctors and nurses) with overall mobbing score, p = 0.001, had a better mental health and better social relations than those HP, who worked as Administrative and Technical Staff. Support by friends, relatives, family showed that they are associated with a better quality of life in all its factors. Health Professionals suffering any form of mobbing (p<0,001) have a poor quality of life (p<0,001), poor physical (p<0,001) and mental health (p<0,001) and poor social contacts (p<0,001). Conclusions: Taking into account the results of statistical controls on the effect of mobbing, demographic and other factors (sex, age, job, working years, etc.), it was found that mobbing negatively affects the QOL in general as the working environment is affected, their socio-demographic profile of both genders and their physical, mental and social well-being. Further studies are needed to show the universality of these results.
Keywords: Health, Quality of life, Working Environment, health professionals, mobbing, occupational health