title: Post-traumatic stress disorder: a neglected health concern among commercial motor vehicle drivers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that may develop following a trauma. Iranian commercial motor vehicle drivers experience many road traffic accidents during their working life; this may increase the probability for developing PTSD, which in turn may lead to increased human errors as well as decreased work efficiency.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the prevalence of PTSD and its associated factors among a group of Iranian commercial motor vehicle drivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional study, 424 drivers who referred to participate in an annually training program were selected using a simple random sampling technique. They were requested to complete the Persian version of PCL-C and a data collection sheet about their occupational and demographic features.
  
  
  RESULTS
  385 (90.8%) of 424 studied drivers completed the study. 265 (68.8%) of the drivers had first-grade driving license. The mean±SD on-the-job daily driving was 10.2±2.8 h. 74 of 385 (19.2%; 95% CI: 15.3%-23.2%) met the PTSD criteria. Higher age and job experience as a professional driver, and having past history or past familial history of psychiatric disorders, were independent predictors of developing PTSD. The disease was more prevalent among drivers with first-grade driving license.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of PTSD among Iranian commercial motor vehicle drivers is higher than the figures reported elsewhere. Measures to diagnose of such drivers and to ensure optimum follow-up of victims before return to professional driving should be considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran. occupationalmedicine@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Saberi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abbasian
authors.forename: M Motalebi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kashani
authors.forename: A H Naseri
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Esfahani
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D015995:Prevalence; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology*