International Journal of Research and Reports in Hematology

Long distance drivers are often at risk of developing metabolic diseases due to the nature of their work as they tend to go to work early, work for more hours, have irregular dietary habits and patterns, encounters numerous stress factors such as lack of physical activity due to working in a fixed position, have irregular sleep habits and live sedentary lifestyle. The study was aimed to determine the effects, prevalence and lifestyle-related risk factors of metabolism among truck drivers in Benin City metropolis. The study was carried out in Benin City metropolis among commercial truck drivers. A total of 200 adult male subjects were recruited for this study. The subjects consist of adult commercial truck drivers (100 subjects) and the control subjects consist of adult males recruited from the University of Benin (100 subjects). All laboratory analysis was carried out in the department of medical laboratory science, faculty of basic medical sciences, University of Benin, Benin city. Thyroid function test was analyzed using the Elisa method and fasting blood sugar were analyzed using the spectrophotometric methods. The study revealed high level of serum insulin, thyroid function test and fasting blood glucose of long-distance truck drivers and the control group were measured and result indicate a significant increase (P<0.05) in the fasting blood glucose (128.93±5.97) and TSH (8.137±5.173) of the long-distance truck drivers compared with the control group (85.80±2.25 and 2.359±0.237 respectively). Similarly, there was a significant decrease (P<0.05) in the insulin (23.90±3.908) level of the long-distance truck drivers compared with the control subjects (34.80±2.529). conclusively, there should be routine medical checkup, balance and timely intake of meal should be adopted for long distance drivers.