Quality of the sleep of truck drivers that travel in the region of the extreme-west of Santa Catarina

Abstract

This study aimed to perform a subjective evaluation of the sleep quality of truck drivers in the extreme western region of Santa Catarina. For this purpose, a questionnaire was used to evaluate the participants' profile and two other questionnaires to measure the degree of sleepiness (Epworth Scale) and Pittsburgh sleep quality index. The sample consisted of 179 truck drivers, all of them male, aged between 21 and 65 years; 77.65% married and 22.34% single; 72.6% have children, with an average of two children per participant. As for the professional profile, 75.9% of the interviewees work as wage earners and 24.1% as freelancers. The type of route covered, in most cases, is long distance, representing 66%, and 34% being short distance routes. Regarding the educational level, 53.5% of the participants have elementary education; 42.4% high school and 3.9% were graduates. Overweight or obesity was identified in 59.80% of the interviewees. About sleep quality, 22.5% reported sleeping less than 5 hours daily; 35.1% from 5h to 6h; 29.0% from 6h to 7h; 12.8% sleep more than 7 hours. On the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, 67.0% presented no sleepiness; 27.3% presented mild degree of somnolence; 5.5% had moderate degree of somnolence. Regarding the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, it was verified that 55.8% presented subjective poor sleep quality. The results suggested that lifestyle and poor habits can negatively influence the health of these professionals.

Keywords

• sleep quality, truck drivers, traffic-accidents