A CROSS - SECTIONAL ANALYTICAL STUDY ON SLEEP QUALITY AMONG OCCUPATIONAL BUS DRIVERS IN CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU

Abstract

Introduction: Sleep disturbances directly affects psychomotor skills, memory, concentration, decision making, all these are directly or indirectly results in accidents. This study intends to assess the sleep quality among bus drivers associated factors affecting their sleep quality.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2021 – August 2021 among the bus drivers working in a government bus depot under Tamil Nadu state transport corporation. Out of 220, 196 bus drivers were interviewed after obtaining informed consent. Data was collected using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Data was entered in MS Excel and analysed by using SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were calculated.

Results: The mean age of the study participants was 44.6 (+ 7 SD) years. Among the study participants 87.8% belong to upper middle class based on Modified BG Prasad socioeconomic scale (2021). Out of 196, (30.6%) of them reported with history of chronic illness. Regarding lifestyle behaviours, 39.3% have history of substance use. Mean work experience among the bus drivers was 11.4 (+ 4.7 SD) years. Most of the study participants had less than 6 hours of (49.5%). Results from final PQSI score indicated that 70.4% of our study participants had poor sleep quality (PQSI > 5). Increased age and maximum duration of service found to be significantly associated with poor sleep quality of the bus drivers (p value < 0.05).

Conclusion: Sleep quality among the bus drivers can be improved by modifying their occupational characteristics like regulated duty schedule, drivers accompanied by alternative drivers in case of long duration journey and sufficient resting hours