title: Commercial Driver Medical Examinations: Prevalence of Obesity, Comorbidities, and Certification Outcomes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to assess relationships between body mass index (BMI) and comorbid conditions within a large sample of truck drivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Commercial driver medical examination data from 88,246 commercial drivers between 2005 and 2012 were analyzed for associations between BMI, medical disorders, and driver certification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most drivers were obese (53.3%, BMI >30.0 kg/m) and morbidly obese (26.6%, BMI >35.0 kg/m), higher than prior reports. Obese drivers were less likely to be certified for 2 years and more likely to report heart disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, nervous disorders, sleep disorders, and chronic low back pain (all P < 0.0001). There are relationships between multiple potentially disqualifying conditions and increasing obesity (P < 0.0001). Morbid obesity prevalence increased 8.9% and prevalence of three or more multiple conditions increased fourfold between 2005 and 2012.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity is related to multiple medical factors as well as increasing numbers of conditions that limit driving certification.
authors.affiliation: From the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational & Environment Health (Drs Thiese and Hegmann), Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City; Arkansas Occupational Health Clinic (Dr Moffitt), Springdale; Center for Truck and Bus Safety (Dr Hanowski), Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, Blacksburg; Department of Environmental Health (Dr Kales), School of Public Health, Harvard, Cambridge, Mass; and Utah Traffic Lab (Dr Porter), Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Thiese
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moffitt
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Hanowski
authors.forename: Stefanos N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Kales
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Kurt T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Hegmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001333:Automobile Driver Examination; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002568:Certification; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000453:epidemiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016272:Occupational Health; D015995:Prevalence