Effects and Feasibility of a Computer-Based Intervention on Truck Drivers’ Sleep

Details

• Personal Author:
  Heaton K
• Description:
  Truck drivers are at high risk for sleep disruption due to the highly irregular and erratic natures of their schedules and to demands from customers who ship and manufacture products using a "just in time" inventory system. Another important issue that may impact truck drivers' sleep is the way in which they are paid for their work-generally a specified number of cents per mile or a percentage of the payment their companies receive per load. In either case, the truck driver's incentive is to drive in order to maximize his pay-even when he may be too tired to safely do so. Driving while sleep impaired has similar cognitive effects as driving under the influence of alcohol. The most recent available reports indicate that just over five percent of single vehicle large truck crashes were attributed to fatigue; but this number is likely significantly under estimated because of the difficulty of actually determining this as a causal factor. In spite of these facts, there are no requirements for truck driver training programs to include information on sleep and fatigue management in their curricula. We know that internet connectivity among this population is burgeoning. In order to fill this important educational gap and promote healthier sleep behaviors, we proposed the aims: 1) determine the feasibility of delivering an internet based sleep education intervention; and 2) determine the effects of the educational intervention on sleep quantity and quality, subjective sleepiness, and fatigue in long-haul truck drivers. During the 28 month funding period, we translated an existing sleep and fatigue management program designed for truck drivers into an internet accessible, modular program. While the original intent was to recruit participants from trucking industry trade shows; we learned that a multifaceted approach to reaching this vulnerable, highly mobile, and remote population was necessary. Therefore, we used snowball sampling, outreach to trusted contacts of the truck drivers (safety directors, state trucking association safety personnel), web and print messaging, along with trade show recruitment efforts. We determined that, not only were our weekly calls to participants necessary to capture data, they also facilitated troubleshooting and retention of participants on the study protocol. Participants provided us with important information regarding the acceptability and usefulness of the information presented in the intervention, and suggestions for future revisions. We were also able to collect very important data about how truck drivers access the internet, how they use the internet, and specifically, how they used this particular internet-based health education program. Participants also provided us with three detailed activity, medication, and driving condition logs that will be extremely important as we explore factors that impacted their sleep and fatigue while on duty. Finally, we were able to learn lessons from them about intervention fidelity and influencing factors in a remote, highly mobile, and vulnerable population. The knowledge gained from this work will inform future intervention research to promote healthy sleep and other behaviors among truck drivers and other remote, highly mobile, and vulnerable workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Computers Health Promotion Occupational Health Safety Sleep Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders Transportation
• Keywords:
  Health Promotion Intervention Effectiveness Sleep Deprivation Transportation Industry Truck Drivers Trucking
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-15
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056614
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2019-101410
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R21-OH-009965, 2014 Apr; :1-15
• Contact Point Address:
  Karen Heaton, University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Nursing NB 534, 1720 2nd Ave. S. Birmingham, AL 35295
• Email:
  kharnp@uab.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities
• Performing Organization:
  University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20110901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20140131
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:893b8191dc21a97ae910a3f5592cf6db9c4534574193a7fcd859561461f9abba2a1abb88394227ffbc96f68976153702de8c157a672d862ef55131292a2b526c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/218904/cdc_218904_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 225.83 KB ]