Cardiovascular health status of taxi/for-hire vehicle drivers in the United States: A systematic review

Article type: Review Article

Authors: Mirpuri, Sheena^a | Traub, Kathryn^a | Romero, Sara^b | Hernandez, Marisol^{c; 1} | Gany, Francesca^{a; d; *}

Affiliations: [a] Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA | [b] Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA | [c] Library Services, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA | [d] Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Department of Healthcare Policy & Research, New York, NY, USA

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Francesca Gany, MD, MS, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Immigrant Health & Cancer Disparities Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, New York, NY 10065, USA. E-mail: [email protected].

Note: [1] Marisol Hernandez is now at Medical Library, CUNY School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Taxi/for-hire vehicle (FHV) drivers are a predominantly immigrant, male, and growing population in large, metropolitan cities in the U.S. at risk for cardiovascular conditions. OBJECTIVE:This review sought to systematically investigate the literature given mounting evidence of poor taxi/FHV driver health. METHODS:A systematic search of peer-reviewed journal articles that included a range of cardiovascular risks and conditions among taxi/FHV drivers in the U.S. was conducted. RESULTS:8800 journal articles were initially found. 14 eligible articles were included: 3 mixed methods articles, 1 qualitative article, and 10 quantitative articles. Articles spanned 13 cardiovascular risks and conditions, including tobacco, nutrition, physical activity, stress, depression, body mass index/waist circumference, cholesterol, blood glucose/diabetes, air pollution, sleep, blood pressure/hypertension, heart disease, and stroke. The majority of studies were cross-sectional and utilized convenience samples. CONCLUSIONS:Rigorous and high quality research is needed to further investigate rates of cardiovascular health in this population. The complexity of data collection in this group presents challenges to this endeavor. The high prevalence of poor nutrition, limited physical activity, diabetes, and blood pressure across studies indicates an urgent need to address low rates of health care access at a policy level and to design targeted workplace interventions.

Keywords: Tobacco, physical activity, stress, BMI, hypertension

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-213525

Journal: Work, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 927-944, 2021