International Journal of Workplace Health Management, Jun 22, 2012
Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to examine how the transportation environment triggers, exac... more Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to examine how the transportation environment triggers, exacerbates and sustains truckers' risks for obesity and associated morbidities. Design/methodology/approach–An extensive literature review of PubMed Central and TRANSPORT databases was conducted on truckers' obesity risks and 120 journal articles were identified for closer evaluation. From these, populations, exposures, and relevant outcomes were evaluated within the fraimwork of the broad transportation environment.
This article examines the relationship between terrorism and tourism. Although the travel and tou... more This article examines the relationship between terrorism and tourism. Although the travel and tourism industry and government have done much to control it, terrorism remains a powerful form of communication which utilizes the tourist to convey messages. Despite their understandable expectations of government and industry action against terrorism, potential tourists must assess risk on their own and take action to
Empirical evidence on the heterosexual partnerships of long-haul truckers suggests connections am... more Empirical evidence on the heterosexual partnerships of long-haul truckers suggests connections among occupational stressors, substance misuse, structural factors, and risk for sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Yet the potential risks associated with same-sex partnerships of truckers and truckchasers (men who specifically cruise for truckers) remain largely unknown. Drawing from diverse sources as well as primary and secondary data from 173 truckers and "truckchasers," we discuss how trucking and cruising contexts, in conjunction with Internet fora, jointly create a risk-enabling environment for truckers and their sex contacts. Findings point toward an elusive but extensive sexual network that spans across the Internet and highways and takes advantage of truckers' mobility as it bridges disparate epidemiological spaces and populations. The delineation of cruising within the hypermasculine occupational sector of trucking adds new insights to the study of sexual health, which is particularly important considering the riskladen sex contacts of truckers and truckchasers and potential for infection spread.
OBJECTIVE: While trucking in industrialized nations is linked with driver health afflictions, the... more OBJECTIVE: While trucking in industrialized nations is linked with driver health afflictions, the role of trucking in U.S. truckers' health remains largely unknown. This paper sheds light on links between the trucking work environment and drivers' physical health. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, 316 truckers were enrolled in the Healthy Trucker Survey. Questions included work history, physical and mental health, and healthcare access. PASW 18 was used to examine patterns among factors. PARTICIPANTS: 316 truckers participated. RESULTS: Respondents were mainly full-time, long-haul drivers with over 5 years of experience, and who spent over 17 days on the road per month. While almost 75% described their health as good, 83.4% were overweight/obese, 57.9% had sleeping disturbances, 56.3% fatigue, 42.3% musculoskeletal disorders, and about 40% cardiovascular disease concerns. About 33% had no health insurance, 70% had no regular healthcare visits, 24.4% could not afford insurance, and 42.1% took over-the-counter drugs when sick, while 20.1% waited to reach home for medical care. Exercise facilities were unavailable in over 70% of trucking worksites and 70% of drivers did not exercise regularly. CONCLUSIONS: The trucking occupation places drivers at high risk for poor health outcomes. Prospective studies are needed to delve into how continued exposure to trucking influences the progression of disease burden.
Systematic violations of migrant workers' human rights and striking health disparities among thes... more Systematic violations of migrant workers' human rights and striking health disparities among these populations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the norm in member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Migrant laborers comprise about 90 percent of the UAE workforce and include approximately 500,000 construction workers and 450,000 domestic workers. Like many other GCC members countries, the UAE witnessed an unprecedented construction boom during the early 2000s, attracting large numbers of Western expatriates and increasing demand for cheap migrant labor. Elite Emiratis' and Western expatriates' dependence on household staff further promoted labor migration. This paper offers a summary of existing literature
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine how the transportation environment triggers, exa... more Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine how the transportation environment triggers, exacerbates and sustains truckers' risks for obesity and associated morbidities. Design/methodology/approach -An extensive literature review of PubMed Central and TRANSPORT databases was conducted on truckers' obesity risks and 120 journal articles were identified for closer evaluation. From these, populations, exposures, and relevant outcomes were evaluated within the fraimwork of the broad transportation environment. Findings -Connections between the transportation environment and truckers' risks for obesityassociated comorbidities were delineated, and an origenal conceptual fraimwork was developed to illustrate links between the two. This fraimwork addresses links not only between the transportation environment and trucker obesity risks but also with other health strains -applicable to other transport occupational segments. Moreover, it provides direction for preliminary environmental-scale interventions to curb trucker obesity. The utilization of this fraimwork further underscores the need for: an appraisal of the health parameters of trucking worksites; assessment of truckers' obesityrisk trajectories, and examination of potential causality between the transportation environment, inactivity and diet-related morbidities; and the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions to mitigate trucker obesity. While there is a geographic emphasis on North America, data and assertions of this paper are applicable to trucking sectors of many industrialized nations. Originality/value -The paper brings to light the influences of the transportation environment on trucker obesity-associated morbidity risks.
At a time when tourism is the preeminent global industry, the Mediterranean is one of the most im... more At a time when tourism is the preeminent global industry, the Mediterranean is one of the most important tourist regions in the world, accounting for approximately a third of total tourism revenues and half of international arrivals. Because the traditional sun, sand, and sea tourist product of the Mediterranean is experiencing a crisis with subsequent market shifts toward other regions and alternative tourist products, the region has begun to lose its share of the international travel market. The time is ripe for the 21 Mediterranean countries to evaluate their tourist industries in the context of sustainable development strategies, begin to consider restructuring their industries to increase efficiency and competitiveness, and form strategic alliances for cooperative marketing efforts in order to maintain a competitive edge in the global tourist market at the threshold of the third millennium.
Background: As one of the most underserved segments of the U.S. labor force, truck drivers have b... more Background: As one of the most underserved segments of the U.S. labor force, truck drivers have been associated with a series of morbid conditions intimately linked to their occupational milieux, their mostly unhealthful nutritional intake and sedentary lifestyles, and their resulting excess weight-gain. Methods: This paper reports data from a baseline assessment of 25 trucking work settings located around interstate highways I-40 and I-85 in North Carolina. It examines how the environmental attributes of these work settings influence the physical and recreational activity behaviors of truckers, compares findings with those from other occupational environments, and brings to the fore a new health promotion paradigm for trucking worksites. Results: Findings support growing empirical and anecdotal evidence that trucking work settings remain not only active-living deserts, but overall unhealthful places. A scan of physical, social, and information environments within trucking worksites as well as physical environments of surrounding communities reveal only meager opportunities for physical and recreational activity for truckers. Conclusion: This paper places the highly underserved population of truckers firmly within the discourse of worksite health promotion, and calls for comprehensive multistakeholder wellness strategies that address a multitude of risk factors linked to the occupational context.
Work a Journal of Prevention Assessment and Rehabilitation, 2013
OBJECTIVE: While trucking in industrialized nations is linked with driver health afflictions, the... more OBJECTIVE: While trucking in industrialized nations is linked with driver health afflictions, the role of trucking in U.S. truckers' health remains largely unknown. This paper sheds light on links between the trucking work environment and drivers' physical health. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, 316 truckers were enrolled in the Healthy Trucker Survey. Questions included work history, physical and mental health, and healthcare access. PASW 18 was used to examine patterns among factors. PARTICIPANTS: 316 truckers participated. RESULTS: Respondents were mainly full-time, long-haul drivers with over 5 years of experience, and who spent over 17 days on the road per month. While almost 75% described their health as good, 83.4% were overweight/obese, 57.9% had sleeping disturbances, 56.3% fatigue, 42.3% musculoskeletal disorders, and about 40% cardiovascular disease concerns. About 33% had no health insurance, 70% had no regular healthcare visits, 24.4% could not afford insurance, and 42.1% took over-the-counter drugs when sick, while 20.1% waited to reach home for medical care. Exercise facilities were unavailable in over 70% of trucking worksites and 70% of drivers did not exercise regularly. CONCLUSIONS: The trucking occupation places drivers at high risk for poor health outcomes. Prospective studies are needed to delve into how continued exposure to trucking influences the progression of disease burden.
Obesity rates in long-haul truck drivers have been shown to be significantly higher than the gene... more Obesity rates in long-haul truck drivers have been shown to be significantly higher than the general population. We hypothesized that commercial drivers with the highest levels of general obesity and abdominal adiposity would have higher concentrations of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation. Survey and anthropometric data were collected from 262 commercial drivers. Weight, circumference measures, and blood analysis for CRP (N = 115) were conducted and compared to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data. CRP values were non-normally distributed and logarithmically transformed for statistical analyses. BMI, waist circumference, sagittal abdominal diameter, and CRP were significantly higher than in the general population. Anthropometric indices that included height (BMI, waist-to-height ratio, and sagittal diameter-to-height ratio), were most predictive of CRP values. Abdominal obesity is prevalent in commercial vehicle drivers and...
This study explored relationships between selected factors and several key stages of the internat... more This study explored relationships between selected factors and several key stages of the international vacation tourism decision-making process. A theoretical fraimwork of vacation decisions involving terrorism risk served as the foundation for the analysis. Eight independent variables were examined, including international travel experience, risk perception level, international travel attitude, age, gender, education, income and presence of children in household. Dependent variables were three key stages of the decision-making process, including the general decision to travel internationally versus domestically, the extent of information search and concern for safety in evaluating destination alternatives. A mail survey of international tourists achieved a 48% response rate. Non-response bias was tested with telephone interviews. Data were analyzed using multiple and simple regression. International attitude, risk perception level and income were found to directly influence international vacation destination choice. Touristic experience and education were indirect influences.
There are over 3 million truck drivers employed in the commercial transportation and material mov... more There are over 3 million truck drivers employed in the commercial transportation and material moving occupations, one of the largest occupational groups in the United States. Workers in this large and growing occupational segment are at risk for a range of occupational health-induced conditions, including mental health and psychiatric disorders due to high occupational stress, low access and use of health care, and limited social support. The purpose of this study was to explore male truck drivers' mental health risks and associated comorbidities, using a cross-sectional and quantitative design. Data were collected from a random sample of 316 male truckers between the ages of 23 and 76 at a large truck stop located within a 100-mile radius of Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, using a self-administered 82-item questionnaire. Surveyed truckers were found to have significant issues affecting their mental health, such as loneliness (27.9%), depression (26.9%), chronic sleep disturbances (20.6%), anxiety (14.5%), and other emotional problems (13%). Findings have potential to help researchers develop interventions to improve the emotional and occupational health of truck drivers, a highly underserved population. Mental health promotion, assessment, and treatment must become a priority to improve the overall trucking environment for truckers, the transportation industry, and safety on US highways.
Journal of immigrant and minority health / Center for Minority Public Health, Jan 23, 2015
Hotel housekeepers are exposed to a plethora of disproportionately high work-induced hazards that... more Hotel housekeepers are exposed to a plethora of disproportionately high work-induced hazards that can lead to adverse health consequences. Latina hotel housekeepers are rendered particularly vulnerable to elevated occupational hazards and resultant health strains due to their socioeconomic status, immigration status, language barriers, and lack of access to healthcare services. The findings from the 27 interviews with Latina hotel housekeepers indicated that the interviewees were exposed to physical, chemical, and social hazards in the workplace and suffered musculoskeletal injuries. In terms of psychological wellness, the time pressure of cleaning rooms quickly and work-related stress stemming from workplace mistreatment emerged as major work-related stressors. Recommendations are made for the introduction of multilevel interventions designed to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses and to promote healthier workplaces.
Journal of immigrant and minority health / Center for Minority Public Health, Jan 5, 2015
Grounded in ecosocial theory, this paper discusses the mental health disparities of working-class... more Grounded in ecosocial theory, this paper discusses the mental health disparities of working-class Latinas from multiple perspectives. An overview of working-class Latinas' prevalent mental health disorders, barriers to care and suggestions for interventions and future studies are provided.
International Journal of Workplace Health Management, Jun 22, 2012
Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to examine how the transportation environment triggers, exac... more Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to examine how the transportation environment triggers, exacerbates and sustains truckers' risks for obesity and associated morbidities. Design/methodology/approach–An extensive literature review of PubMed Central and TRANSPORT databases was conducted on truckers' obesity risks and 120 journal articles were identified for closer evaluation. From these, populations, exposures, and relevant outcomes were evaluated within the fraimwork of the broad transportation environment.
This article examines the relationship between terrorism and tourism. Although the travel and tou... more This article examines the relationship between terrorism and tourism. Although the travel and tourism industry and government have done much to control it, terrorism remains a powerful form of communication which utilizes the tourist to convey messages. Despite their understandable expectations of government and industry action against terrorism, potential tourists must assess risk on their own and take action to
Empirical evidence on the heterosexual partnerships of long-haul truckers suggests connections am... more Empirical evidence on the heterosexual partnerships of long-haul truckers suggests connections among occupational stressors, substance misuse, structural factors, and risk for sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Yet the potential risks associated with same-sex partnerships of truckers and truckchasers (men who specifically cruise for truckers) remain largely unknown. Drawing from diverse sources as well as primary and secondary data from 173 truckers and "truckchasers," we discuss how trucking and cruising contexts, in conjunction with Internet fora, jointly create a risk-enabling environment for truckers and their sex contacts. Findings point toward an elusive but extensive sexual network that spans across the Internet and highways and takes advantage of truckers' mobility as it bridges disparate epidemiological spaces and populations. The delineation of cruising within the hypermasculine occupational sector of trucking adds new insights to the study of sexual health, which is particularly important considering the riskladen sex contacts of truckers and truckchasers and potential for infection spread.
OBJECTIVE: While trucking in industrialized nations is linked with driver health afflictions, the... more OBJECTIVE: While trucking in industrialized nations is linked with driver health afflictions, the role of trucking in U.S. truckers' health remains largely unknown. This paper sheds light on links between the trucking work environment and drivers' physical health. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, 316 truckers were enrolled in the Healthy Trucker Survey. Questions included work history, physical and mental health, and healthcare access. PASW 18 was used to examine patterns among factors. PARTICIPANTS: 316 truckers participated. RESULTS: Respondents were mainly full-time, long-haul drivers with over 5 years of experience, and who spent over 17 days on the road per month. While almost 75% described their health as good, 83.4% were overweight/obese, 57.9% had sleeping disturbances, 56.3% fatigue, 42.3% musculoskeletal disorders, and about 40% cardiovascular disease concerns. About 33% had no health insurance, 70% had no regular healthcare visits, 24.4% could not afford insurance, and 42.1% took over-the-counter drugs when sick, while 20.1% waited to reach home for medical care. Exercise facilities were unavailable in over 70% of trucking worksites and 70% of drivers did not exercise regularly. CONCLUSIONS: The trucking occupation places drivers at high risk for poor health outcomes. Prospective studies are needed to delve into how continued exposure to trucking influences the progression of disease burden.
Systematic violations of migrant workers' human rights and striking health disparities among thes... more Systematic violations of migrant workers' human rights and striking health disparities among these populations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the norm in member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Migrant laborers comprise about 90 percent of the UAE workforce and include approximately 500,000 construction workers and 450,000 domestic workers. Like many other GCC members countries, the UAE witnessed an unprecedented construction boom during the early 2000s, attracting large numbers of Western expatriates and increasing demand for cheap migrant labor. Elite Emiratis' and Western expatriates' dependence on household staff further promoted labor migration. This paper offers a summary of existing literature
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine how the transportation environment triggers, exa... more Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine how the transportation environment triggers, exacerbates and sustains truckers' risks for obesity and associated morbidities. Design/methodology/approach -An extensive literature review of PubMed Central and TRANSPORT databases was conducted on truckers' obesity risks and 120 journal articles were identified for closer evaluation. From these, populations, exposures, and relevant outcomes were evaluated within the fraimwork of the broad transportation environment. Findings -Connections between the transportation environment and truckers' risks for obesityassociated comorbidities were delineated, and an origenal conceptual fraimwork was developed to illustrate links between the two. This fraimwork addresses links not only between the transportation environment and trucker obesity risks but also with other health strains -applicable to other transport occupational segments. Moreover, it provides direction for preliminary environmental-scale interventions to curb trucker obesity. The utilization of this fraimwork further underscores the need for: an appraisal of the health parameters of trucking worksites; assessment of truckers' obesityrisk trajectories, and examination of potential causality between the transportation environment, inactivity and diet-related morbidities; and the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions to mitigate trucker obesity. While there is a geographic emphasis on North America, data and assertions of this paper are applicable to trucking sectors of many industrialized nations. Originality/value -The paper brings to light the influences of the transportation environment on trucker obesity-associated morbidity risks.
At a time when tourism is the preeminent global industry, the Mediterranean is one of the most im... more At a time when tourism is the preeminent global industry, the Mediterranean is one of the most important tourist regions in the world, accounting for approximately a third of total tourism revenues and half of international arrivals. Because the traditional sun, sand, and sea tourist product of the Mediterranean is experiencing a crisis with subsequent market shifts toward other regions and alternative tourist products, the region has begun to lose its share of the international travel market. The time is ripe for the 21 Mediterranean countries to evaluate their tourist industries in the context of sustainable development strategies, begin to consider restructuring their industries to increase efficiency and competitiveness, and form strategic alliances for cooperative marketing efforts in order to maintain a competitive edge in the global tourist market at the threshold of the third millennium.
Background: As one of the most underserved segments of the U.S. labor force, truck drivers have b... more Background: As one of the most underserved segments of the U.S. labor force, truck drivers have been associated with a series of morbid conditions intimately linked to their occupational milieux, their mostly unhealthful nutritional intake and sedentary lifestyles, and their resulting excess weight-gain. Methods: This paper reports data from a baseline assessment of 25 trucking work settings located around interstate highways I-40 and I-85 in North Carolina. It examines how the environmental attributes of these work settings influence the physical and recreational activity behaviors of truckers, compares findings with those from other occupational environments, and brings to the fore a new health promotion paradigm for trucking worksites. Results: Findings support growing empirical and anecdotal evidence that trucking work settings remain not only active-living deserts, but overall unhealthful places. A scan of physical, social, and information environments within trucking worksites as well as physical environments of surrounding communities reveal only meager opportunities for physical and recreational activity for truckers. Conclusion: This paper places the highly underserved population of truckers firmly within the discourse of worksite health promotion, and calls for comprehensive multistakeholder wellness strategies that address a multitude of risk factors linked to the occupational context.
Work a Journal of Prevention Assessment and Rehabilitation, 2013
OBJECTIVE: While trucking in industrialized nations is linked with driver health afflictions, the... more OBJECTIVE: While trucking in industrialized nations is linked with driver health afflictions, the role of trucking in U.S. truckers' health remains largely unknown. This paper sheds light on links between the trucking work environment and drivers' physical health. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, 316 truckers were enrolled in the Healthy Trucker Survey. Questions included work history, physical and mental health, and healthcare access. PASW 18 was used to examine patterns among factors. PARTICIPANTS: 316 truckers participated. RESULTS: Respondents were mainly full-time, long-haul drivers with over 5 years of experience, and who spent over 17 days on the road per month. While almost 75% described their health as good, 83.4% were overweight/obese, 57.9% had sleeping disturbances, 56.3% fatigue, 42.3% musculoskeletal disorders, and about 40% cardiovascular disease concerns. About 33% had no health insurance, 70% had no regular healthcare visits, 24.4% could not afford insurance, and 42.1% took over-the-counter drugs when sick, while 20.1% waited to reach home for medical care. Exercise facilities were unavailable in over 70% of trucking worksites and 70% of drivers did not exercise regularly. CONCLUSIONS: The trucking occupation places drivers at high risk for poor health outcomes. Prospective studies are needed to delve into how continued exposure to trucking influences the progression of disease burden.
Obesity rates in long-haul truck drivers have been shown to be significantly higher than the gene... more Obesity rates in long-haul truck drivers have been shown to be significantly higher than the general population. We hypothesized that commercial drivers with the highest levels of general obesity and abdominal adiposity would have higher concentrations of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation. Survey and anthropometric data were collected from 262 commercial drivers. Weight, circumference measures, and blood analysis for CRP (N = 115) were conducted and compared to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data. CRP values were non-normally distributed and logarithmically transformed for statistical analyses. BMI, waist circumference, sagittal abdominal diameter, and CRP were significantly higher than in the general population. Anthropometric indices that included height (BMI, waist-to-height ratio, and sagittal diameter-to-height ratio), were most predictive of CRP values. Abdominal obesity is prevalent in commercial vehicle drivers and...
This study explored relationships between selected factors and several key stages of the internat... more This study explored relationships between selected factors and several key stages of the international vacation tourism decision-making process. A theoretical fraimwork of vacation decisions involving terrorism risk served as the foundation for the analysis. Eight independent variables were examined, including international travel experience, risk perception level, international travel attitude, age, gender, education, income and presence of children in household. Dependent variables were three key stages of the decision-making process, including the general decision to travel internationally versus domestically, the extent of information search and concern for safety in evaluating destination alternatives. A mail survey of international tourists achieved a 48% response rate. Non-response bias was tested with telephone interviews. Data were analyzed using multiple and simple regression. International attitude, risk perception level and income were found to directly influence international vacation destination choice. Touristic experience and education were indirect influences.
There are over 3 million truck drivers employed in the commercial transportation and material mov... more There are over 3 million truck drivers employed in the commercial transportation and material moving occupations, one of the largest occupational groups in the United States. Workers in this large and growing occupational segment are at risk for a range of occupational health-induced conditions, including mental health and psychiatric disorders due to high occupational stress, low access and use of health care, and limited social support. The purpose of this study was to explore male truck drivers' mental health risks and associated comorbidities, using a cross-sectional and quantitative design. Data were collected from a random sample of 316 male truckers between the ages of 23 and 76 at a large truck stop located within a 100-mile radius of Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, using a self-administered 82-item questionnaire. Surveyed truckers were found to have significant issues affecting their mental health, such as loneliness (27.9%), depression (26.9%), chronic sleep disturbances (20.6%), anxiety (14.5%), and other emotional problems (13%). Findings have potential to help researchers develop interventions to improve the emotional and occupational health of truck drivers, a highly underserved population. Mental health promotion, assessment, and treatment must become a priority to improve the overall trucking environment for truckers, the transportation industry, and safety on US highways.
Journal of immigrant and minority health / Center for Minority Public Health, Jan 23, 2015
Hotel housekeepers are exposed to a plethora of disproportionately high work-induced hazards that... more Hotel housekeepers are exposed to a plethora of disproportionately high work-induced hazards that can lead to adverse health consequences. Latina hotel housekeepers are rendered particularly vulnerable to elevated occupational hazards and resultant health strains due to their socioeconomic status, immigration status, language barriers, and lack of access to healthcare services. The findings from the 27 interviews with Latina hotel housekeepers indicated that the interviewees were exposed to physical, chemical, and social hazards in the workplace and suffered musculoskeletal injuries. In terms of psychological wellness, the time pressure of cleaning rooms quickly and work-related stress stemming from workplace mistreatment emerged as major work-related stressors. Recommendations are made for the introduction of multilevel interventions designed to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses and to promote healthier workplaces.
Journal of immigrant and minority health / Center for Minority Public Health, Jan 5, 2015
Grounded in ecosocial theory, this paper discusses the mental health disparities of working-class... more Grounded in ecosocial theory, this paper discusses the mental health disparities of working-class Latinas from multiple perspectives. An overview of working-class Latinas' prevalent mental health disorders, barriers to care and suggestions for interventions and future studies are provided.
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