title: Work patterns, sleeping hours and excess weight in commercial drivers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Work and sleep patterns for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers often include long working hours, shift work and diminished sleep duration and quality, which have been linked to overweight, obesity and other problems.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore possible connections between work, sleep and obesity among CMV drivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey and anthropometric data were collected from male long-haul CMV drivers in central North Carolina, USA, over a period of 6 months. Drivers' body mass index (BMI) was used as a measure of total body obesity and sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) as a measure of central adiposity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 260 study subjects, mean BMI was 33.1 (64% were obese or morbidly obese) and mean SAD was 32.3cm, classifying 89% of drivers as being at high or very high cardiometabolic risk. About 83% of drivers worked an irregular daily schedule, 64% worked irregular total daily hours, 32% worked irregular days of the week and 46% reported getting <7h of sleep during work nights. Significant predictors of BMI included the number of hours worked daily (P < 0.05) and the age (P < 0.01) of the driver, while age was also a significant predictor for SAD (P < 0.05). Significant predictors of sleep quality included the extent of shift work (P < 0.05) and sleep duration (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Work and sleep configurations appear to affect the weight status of CMV drivers. Shift work and sleep duration are both associated with the weight status of CMV drivers, and both appear to function as indicators of their sleep quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, 4243 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA, michael.lemke@hlkn.tamu.edu.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lemke
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1400 Spring Garden Street, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hege
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1400 Spring Garden Street, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perko
authors.affiliation: Department of Tourism, Events and Attractions, University of Central Florida, 9907 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32819, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sönmez
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, 4243 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Apostolopoulos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D020178:Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D055105:Waist Circumference; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance
keywords: Central obesity; commercial drivers; shift work; total body obesity; work hours.