ABSTRACT
<p><b>PURPOSE</b>Iran has a high rate of road traffic accidents. Poor quality of sleep brings about loss of attention, which is an important cause of road traffic accidents particularly in monotonous roads. The causes of poor quality of sleep in occupational drivers are multifactorial. The objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence of poor sleep quality among occupational drivers with rotating work schedules and analyze its different risk factors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>2200 professional long-haul truck drivers who had been referred to the Occupational Health Clinic for routine education course were invited. We obtained data from eight provinces from various parts of Iran during 2012-2013. Data were collected using a questionnaire including questions about demographic and job characteristics. Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess drivers' sleep quality.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Mean working (driving) time was (9.3±2.5) hours daily and (55.5 ± 18.29) hours weekly. About 23.5% of the drivers reported history of smoking, 14.5% had low job satisfaction and 60% had irregular work schedule. 16.4% of drivers had an accidents leading to injury during the past five years. The mean PSQI score was 4.2 ± 2.7; 54% had a PSQI>5 (poor quality of sleep). Multivariate logistic regression showed that smoking, job satisfaction, history of accidents, shift work and work hours per day were the most important risk factors for poor sleep quality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Results obtained from the current study showed a high prevalence of poor quality of sleep among professional drivers. It warrants more attention to this significant problem using some measures to improve working conditions in professional drivers, as well as health promotion interventions.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Accidents, Traffic , Automobile Driving , Educational Status , Iran , Logistic Models , Sleep , WorkloadABSTRACT
The thyroid gland is a rare site for cancer metastasis. We report a 75-year-old man who was referred with a history of hematuria and generalized bone pain for the past few months. He had a past history of partial left lobe thyroidectomy for follicular adenoma. Subsequently he was referred for a thyroid mass and a subtotal thyroidectomy showed a poorly-differentiated carcinoma. On the latest admission, the patient underwent resection of a bladder tumour with malignant histology and an immunohistochemical profile of CK7+/CK20+/34 Beta E12+/CEA-/PSA-. Re-examination of thyroid sections with immunohistochemical stains revealed the malignant cells to be CK7+/CK20+/34 Beta E12+/CEA-/TTF1-. The findings were compatible with metastasis of the bladder transitional cell carcinoma to the thyroid gland.Scans revealed multiple liver and bone metastases. The patient died 2 months after the diagnosis.