Demographics and Health Profiles of Inter-City Commercial Drivers in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Motorized road transport among others has changed the face of employment, trade, family life and health care, bringing benefits that were unimaginable 100 years ago. However, the price being paid as a result of road traffic crashes (RTC) compared with the benefits is too high. The objective of the study was to determine demographics and health profiles of Inter-City Commercial Drivers in Kwara State, Nigeria.

The study design was descriptive cross-sectional, in which multi-stage sampling method was adopted to select 410 inter-city commercial vehicle drivers in Kwara State. Data was collected using pre- tested interviewer administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using EPI INFO version 3.5.1 An appropriate test of significance (Chi-square, t test) were used to test statistics and the level of significance was predetermined at less than 0.05 at 95% confidence level.

The mean age of the respondents was 46.78 ± 11.27 years. Men  constituted 99.8% of the respondents. Less than two-thirds of the  respondents, 249 (60.7%) had ever done a medical checkup. About a third of the respondents 146 (35.6%) had raised blood pressure and 178  (43.4%) reported medical history of hypertension. Eleven percent had poor vision among the respondents.

Law enforcement agencies, trade unions, road transporter associations and licensing authorities should ensure basic medical test and assessment are done at regular interval and before issuance of driving license. This will not only detect unnoticed disease or medical conditions but will provide opportunity for only those who are fit to be certified commercial drivers.

Key words:  Demographic, Health, Profile, Commercial, Driver, Nigeria