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Health conditions of heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash in Western Australia: a retrospective study using linked data
Author(s) -
Meuleners Lynn B.,
Lee Andy H.,
Legge Matthew,
Rina Cercarelli L.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he05037
Subject(s) - crash , medicine , retrospective cohort study , medical emergency , cohort , emergency medicine , occupational safety and health , environmental health , cohort study , poison control , surgery , pathology , computer science , programming language
Issue addressed This retrospective study investigated the health conditions of a cohort of heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash in Western Australia. Methods Hospital separation records of heavy vehicle drivers admitted to hospital as a result of a road crash between 1 January 1988 and 31 December 2000 in Western Australia were analysed. Heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash were first identified using the Western Australian Road Injury Database before linking to their hospital records. All hospital admissions for each driver admitted to hospital for a crash at least once during the study period were subsequently retrieved from the Health Services Linked Database. Results There were 146 heavy vehicle drivers in the cohort. A total of 964 distinct in‐patient episodes (the collection of all hospital admissions for a single event) were recorded for these drivers, with a minimum of one and a maximum of 84 hospital in‐patient episodes per driver. The mean number of in‐patient episodes for each driver was seven (SD=8.44), including an in‐patient episode for a heavy vehicle crash. Conclusion The evidence presented for the cohort of heavy vehicle drivers hospitalised as a result of road crash confirms that these drivers are characterised with health conditions such as musculoskeletal problems and digestive disorders. So what? The findings have implications for the development of specific health promotion and education programs targeting such health conditions to reduce the occupational risks associated with driving a heavy vehicle.