Factors associated with psychoactive substance use among truck drivers

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The World Health Organization's report shows a growing concern about drug use and road safety worlwide. Objectives To identify sociodemographic, health and occupational characteristics associated with use of psychoactive substances among truck drivers. Methods This is a cross-sectional study conducted with 354 drivers from January to June, 2016. Data collection was based on a multidimensional questionnaire that included the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST-WHO) and the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) instruments. The hierarchical approach was adopted for odds ratio (OR) adjustment. The variables that showed statistical significance with p ≤ 0.10 in the bivariate analyzes were selected for the multiple logistic regression analysis performed in the IBM SPSS software (v.19.0). Results The use of psychoactive substances in the last three months was associated to low family per capita income (OR, 2.59; 95%CI, 1.23-5.47) and poor self-reported health (1.96; 1.16-3.32), self-reported insomnia (2.9; 1.73-4.87), Common Mental Disorders (3.05; 1.62-5.75) and illness-related absenteeism (1,70; 1.02-2.85). Regarding work characteristics, the use of psychoactive substances in the last three months was observed among those with less than 15 years of work (1.78; 1.07-2.94), daily work journey longer than 6h/day (2.83; 1.69-4.74) and with less than 6 hours of daily rest (1.88; 1.12-3.14). Conclusions The results showed worrying vulnerability factors associated with the use of psychoactive substances among truck drivers in Brazil. Key messages The survey of 354 truck drivers described the vulnerability and risk factors, which are exposed, as inadequate work conditions associated with the use of psychoactive substances. It showed a greater chance of at least the use of one of the substances (alcohol, cocaine, amphetamine), among truck drivers and the importance in the development of public policies for this worker.