The impact of a novel Structured Health Intervention for Truckers (SHIFT) on physical activity and cardio-metabolic risk factors

Objective: To examine the effects of implementing a lifestyle health behaviour intervention on cardiovascular risk markers in a sample of lorry drivers. Methods: 57 males participated in the pre-post evaluation of a multicomponent 12-week intervention. Results: Favourable changes in several cardiovascular health indicators were observed, including fasting blood glucose (-0.6mmol/l), LDL-Cholesterol (-0.7mmol/l), total cholesterol (-0.7mmol/l), waist-hip ratio (-0.10) and waist circumference (-2.5cm) (p<.01). The proportion of participants with a >10% risk of a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years reduced by 12% (p<.05). A 21%, 12% and 7.5% reduction in drivers with pre-diabetes (p<.001), undiagnosed diabetes (p<.05) and the metabolic syndrome (p<.05), respectively, was observed. Conclusion: This study highlights the feasibility of implementing a multicomponent health intervention within the transport setting and provides preliminary evidence of its beneficial effects on some markers of health. Key words: lorry drivers, physical activity, sitting time, cardiovascular markers, health intervention, transport setting.