Prevalence of hypertension and its associated factors among professional drivers: a population-based study

Abstract

Objective

Hypertension is one of the most important causes of cardiovascular disease. It has been found that professional drivers are at high risk of hypertension. This study has been performed to determine the prevalence of hypertension and its associated factors among professional drivers in Shahroud.

Methods and Results

In this study, the prevalence of hypertension was determined according to the definition by the American Heart Association among 1461 professional drivers participating in the first cross-sectional phase of Shahroud drivers’ prospective cohort study. The prevalence of elevated blood pressure and hypertension was examined based on the initial age, and gender presented, along with the factors affecting this disease based on multinomial logistic regression. The prevalence of elevated blood pressure, stage 1 and 2 hypertension was 46.9%, 6%, and 1.3%, respectively. In the multivariate multinomial logistic regression model, having diabetes, Body Mass Index ≥25, and driving years was associated with an increased chance of developing elevated blood pressure and hypertension.

Conclusions

Attention should be paid to high prevalence of elevated blood pressure and hypertension among professional drivers in Iran as a health priority for drivers. Plans should be made to reduce it as well as to prevent its complications.

Keywords:

• Elevated blood pressure
• hypertension
• professional drivers
• cohort
• Iran

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to appreciate the Deputy for Research and Technology of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences who sponsored the study and also the participants in this study. We are grateful to the Kasra Occupational Medicine Specialist Center for providing data and their continuing commitment to the study.

This article is the result of a research project with code 9434 and ethics code IR.SHMU.REC.2016.20 in the Vice Chancellor for Research of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The project budget has been provided based on the approval of the research project code 9434 in the Vice Chancellor for Research of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences.