[Assessment of ischemic heart diseases and related risk factors in professional drivers]

ABSTRACT

Nowadays cardiovascular disorders are the most common cause of death in worldwide. Several studies have shown that ischemic cardiovascular diseases are more common in drivers, especially professional drivers, but underlying causes have not been completely understood. This study was a cross sectional, descriptive-analytic study. 1120 professional divers who worked with heavy vehicles and referred for periodic examinations to one of the centers of drivers examinations in city of Yazd with simple random sampling included in the study. The study findings showed that age, overweight, cigarette smoking, duration of driving, chronic diseases known as a risk factor for ischemic heart disease, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, had a significant relationship with ischemic heart diseases [p <0.05], and second job, family history of ischemic heart diseases risk factors, vehicle type and regular exercise had not a significant relationship with ischemic heart diseases [p>0.05]. Because of high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors in drivers and lack of a concentrated system for driver's education, it seems that decreasing of these risk factors requires occupational medicine examination centers educate them too