Repeated Cross-Sectional Assessment of Commercial Truck Driver Health.
OBJECTIVE
To assess relationships and trends over time in individual conditions and multiple conditions among a large sample of independent, nonoverlapping truck drivers using a repeated cross-sectional study design.


METHODS
Commercial driver medical examinations were conducted on 95,567 commercial drivers between January 1, 2005, and October 31, 2012. Specific medical conditions that have been identified by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Medical Review Board as possibly increasing crash risk were examined. Prevalence and trends over time were analyzed.


RESULTS
A total of 8 of the 13 conditions significantly increased from 2005 to 2012. Prevalence of multiple concomitant conditions also increased, with prevalence odds ratios as high as 7.39 (95% confidence interval, 3.92 to 13.98) for four or more conditions in 2012 as compared with 2005.


CONCLUSIONS
Individual and multiple conditions thought to be associated with increased crash risk significantly increased between 2005 and 2012.
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.
Matthew S
MS
Thiese
Gary
G
Moffitt
Richard J
RJ
Hanowski
Stefanos N
SN
Kales
Richard J
RJ
Porter
Kurt T
KT
Hegmann
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control; D001334:Automobile Driving; D003132:Commerce; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States