ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT | |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE | Background: Obesity is one of the most important health problems, so it is very important to identify its causes. Shift work is one of the factors that causes people to become obese. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between shift work and obesity in taxi drivers. Methods: In this cross sectional study conducted in 2016, 120 male taxi drivers from Yazd were studied for demographic characteristics and some anthropometric indices. To describe the data, descriptive statistics were used; to compare the prevalence of overweight, general and abdominal obesity, chi-square test was used and to compare quantitative variables, independent t-test and Mann-Whitney test were used. Results: The results showed that the mean weight, waist circumference, body mass index and waist to hip ratio (WHR) were significantly higher in shift workers (P < 0.05). In this study, the prevalence of overweight in shift and day workers was 41.4 and 46% (P = 0.61), general obesity was 34.3 and 20% (P = 0.08), and abdominal obesity was 82.9 and 82% (P = 0.90), respectively. Spearman correlation coefficient showed a positive and significant correlation between age and WHR as well as work experience and WHR in shift workers (r = 0.34 and r = 0.31, respectively). Also, a positive and significant correlation was found between age and WHR in day workers (r = 0.35). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that shift work in taxi drivers is associated with an increased probability of overweight, general and abdominal obesity. Keywords: Taxi drivers; Shift work; Obesity |
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Article history: Received: 29 Jul 2017 Revised: 7 Sep 2017 Accepted: 4 Nov 2017 |
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*Corresponding author: Naderyan67@yahoo.com Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. Postal code: 8915173160 Tel: +983538209114 |
Table 1. The demographic and anthropometric variables of the participants | ||
Variables | Mean SD | P-value |
Age (year) Shift work Day work |
48.60 12.67 44.08 10.54 |
0.08a |
Work experience (year) Shift work Day work |
11.24 7.11 11.40 9.32 |
0.55† |
Weight (kg) Shift work Day work |
84.52 14.35 78.27 10.62 |
0.01a |
Height (cm) Shift work Day work |
172.65 6.47 171.58 7.02 |
0.39b |
Waist circumference (cm) Shift work Day work |
100.43 15.70 96.86 7.59 |
0.04a |
Hip circumference (cm) Shift work Day work |
105.31 12.35 103.48 5.49 |
0.12a |
Body mass index (kg/m2) Shift work Day work |
28.33 4.31 26.59 3.27 |
0.01 b |
Waist to hip ratio Shift work Day work |
0.96 0.16 0.94 0.04 |
0.04a |
a: Mann-Whitney U test; b:Student t-test |
Table 2. Comparison of shift and day drivers' anthropometric status | ||
Variables | N (%) | P-valuea |
Normal body mass index Shift work Day work |
14 (20.0) 16 (32.0) |
0.13 |
Overweight Shift work Day work |
29 (41.4) 23 (46.0) |
0.61 |
General obesity Shift work Day work |
24 (34.3) 10 (20.0) |
0.08 |
Abdominal obesity Shift work Day work |
58 (82.9) 41 (82.0) |
0.90 |
a: Chi-square test |
Table 3. Comparison of the participants' anthropometric status according to working hours | |||
Variables | Working hours | N (%) | P-valuea |
Normal body mass index | 8 hours and less | 16 (32.0) | 0.13 |
more than 8 hours | 14 (20.0) | ||
Overweight | 8 hours and less | 23 (46.0) | 0.61 |
more than 8 hours | 29 (41.4) | ||
General obesity | 8 hours and less | 10 (20.0) | 0.08 |
more than 8 hours | 24 (34.3) | ||
Abdominal obesity | 8 hours and less | 41 (82.0) | 0.90 |
more than 8 hours | 58 (82.9) | ||
a: Chi-square test |
Table 4. Correlation coefficient between studied variables | ||
Variables | Spearman correlation coefficient | P-value |
Age & Body mass index Shift work Day work |
0.009 0.121 |
0.941 0.402 |
Work experience & Body mass index Shift work Day work |
0.141 0.008 |
0.246 0.956 |
Age & Waist to hip ratio Shift work Day work |
0.344 0.357 |
0.004 0.011 |
Work experience & Waist to hip ratio Shift work Day work |
0.313 0.130 |
0.008 0.367 |
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