Psychosocial risk factors at work associated with the level of physical activity among motorcycle taxi drivers

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the association of psychosocial risk factors at work, sociodemographic, and occupational characteristics with the level of physical activity among motorcycle taxi drivers.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with 750 male motorcycle taxi drivers from the municipality of Jequié, Bahia, Brazil. A form containing sociodemographic and occupational characteristics was utilized. The psychosocial risk factors at work were evaluated by the Job Content Questionnaire and the level of physical activity by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The adjusted associations were analyzed by means of the Poisson regression with robust variance. Results: the prevalence of an insufficiently active level of physical activity was of 59.6%. The crude prevalence ratios (PR) showed an association between physical inactivity in motorcycle taxi drivers and high strain job (PR: 1.31), with 5 or more years of experience (PR: 1.67), in night shifts (PR: 1.36) and 40 or more years old (PR: 1.77). In the multivariate model, adjusted by income, work in high strain is kept associated to a situation of being insufficiently active (PR: 1.13), duration of employment of five or more years raised by 51.0% the frequency of insufficiently active physical activity (PR: 1.51) and the work in predominantly nocturnal shifts increased it by 26.0% (PR: 1.26). It is made evident that age was an effect modifier (p < 0.001) and its interaction was evaluated by including the corresponding product term (job Demand–Control model), which shows that the association between highly straining work and being insufficiently active was observed only among the youngest (21–39 years old) (PR: 1,21).

Conclusions: the age and exposure to unfavorable working conditions, like long duration of employment, night work and work under high psychological demand and low control, have an influence on the insufficient physical activity among motorcycle taxi drivers.

Keywords:

• Motorcycle taxi drivers
• risk factors
• psychosocial factors
• physical activity
• workers
• work
• labor conditions
• worker health

Acknowledgments

To the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) for the concession of doctorate scholarship to Teixeira JRB.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest exist.