[Sleep-quality investigation of bus drivers working in the Gorgan's passenger terminal and its relation with the public health in 2008-2009]

ABSTRACT

One of the most common kinds of human's disorders is sleep disorders which have direct relation with age, gender, physical health status, and occupational activities. Increasing the errors during job activities such as driving is one of the most important complications of sleep disorders. Therefore, this study has been conducted to determine the sleep quality of drivers and its relationship with public health. The under study drivers are from the Gorgan's passenger terminal. In this analytical-partial study, all the drivers working in the Gorgan's passenger terminal were studied using standard 28-question public heath questionnaire and standard 19-question Pittsburg sleep questionnaire. After filling out and collecting all forms, data were analyzed by statistical software SPSS.13, and descriptive analytical statistics. The results showed that the driver's public health is not satisfactory. More than one third of drivers have poor sleep quality and there was a direct and statistically significant relationship between the quality of sleep and general health of drivers [P <0.00 1, r = 0.7]. according to the results of this study, training of drivers is advised such that they have a regular number of shifts, timely and sufficient rests, proper diet which can prevent accidents, conserve passengers, reduce costs due to accidents and irrecoverable damage to other drivers. Also it is important to consider possible age limitation for driving on the road or to allocate a less number of shifts for older drivers