Stroke among male professional drivers in Denmark, 1994-2003

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Epidemiology
• Neurology

Background:

• Professional drivers represent a significant occupational group with potential unique health risks.
• Previous studies have suggested an elevated risk of cardiovascular events in certain driver populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the relative risk of stroke in different categories of professional drivers.
• To differentiate the risk between stroke subtypes, specifically infarction and hemorrhage.
• To compare stroke risk in metropolitan versus non-metropolitan areas and between passenger and goods transport drivers.

Main Methods:

• A cohort study followed over 32,000 professional drivers (bus, car, taxi, van, heavy truck, lorry) from 1994-2003.
• Hospital admissions for stroke and sub-diagnoses were analyzed.
• Standardized Hospitalization Ratios (SHR) were calculated using economically active men as the standard population, adjusting for age and county.

Main Results:

• All professional driver groups exhibited a significantly elevated SHR for stroke (SHR=132).
• Car, taxi, and van drivers had the highest SHR (157), followed by bus drivers (139) and heavy truck/lorry drivers (124).
• Cerebrovascular infarction posed a higher excess risk (SHR=139) than non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (SHR=113), with a significant difference (RRR=1.23). Passenger-carrying drivers showed a higher stroke risk than goods-carrying drivers (RRR=1.28).

Conclusions:

• Professional drivers across all categories are at an increased risk of stroke.
• The elevated stroke risk is predominantly attributed to cerebral infarctions rather than non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhages.
• Drivers transporting passengers face a greater stroke risk compared to those transporting goods.