[Productive aging or "healthy worker effect"? Retrospective analysis of morbidity in motor transport drivers]

The morbidity with temporal workability loss (MTWL) was retrospectively analyzed among the drivers at cargo and passenger motor transport companies. The age-length of service peculiarities of MTWL dynamics in lorry drivers were studied. The risk group of 40-49 years old professional drivers of 15-19-years' driving experience with the highest morbidity indices was identified. The "healthy worker effect" was revealed as the phenomenon of unorganized professional selection, i.e., as a result of withdrawing persons with reduced adaptability from the risk age-length of service group only the drivers with higher health indices remained in the groups following the withdrawal interval. We defined the typical structure of MTWL and the dependence of the driver's health indices upon their shift work and the type of transportation. Factor dispersion analysis was used to determine the leading role of the driving experience as the factor and indicator of "healthy worker effect" formation among lorry drivers. The misrepresented influence of the "healthy worker effect" during the analysis of the morbidity and occupational risks of premature and (or) accelerating aging among professional drivers was shown.