Driving: a road to unhealthy lifestyles and poor health outcomes

Driving is a common part of modern society, but its potential effects on health are not well understood. The present cross-sectional study (n = 37,570) examined the associations of driving time with a series of health behaviors and outcomes in a large population sample of middle-aged and older adult...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one 2014-06, Vol.9 (6), p.e94602
Main Authors:	Ding, Ding, Gebel, Klaus, Phongsavan, Philayrath, Bauman, Adrian E, Merom, Dafna
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Adults Alcohol Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology Alcoholic beverages Alcohols Automobile Driving - statistics & numerical data Biology and Life Sciences Body mass index Collaboration Commuting Demographics Dosage Driving Driving ability Environmental factors Exercise Female Health aspects Health Behavior Health risks Humans Life Style Logistic Models Male Medical research Medicine and Health Sciences Mental health Middle age Middle Aged Mortality Motor Activity Multidisciplinary research Obesity Obesity - epidemiology Older people Physical activity Prevention Public health Public Health - statistics & numerical data Quality of Life Research and Analysis Methods Risk factors Sedentary behavior Sedentary Lifestyle Sleep Smoking Smoking - epidemiology Social interactions Social Sciences Stress (Psychology) Stress, Psychological - epidemiology Studies Systematic review Traffic congestion
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Summary:	Driving is a common part of modern society, but its potential effects on health are not well understood. The present cross-sectional study (n = 37,570) examined the associations of driving time with a series of health behaviors and outcomes in a large population sample of middle-aged and older adults using data from the Social, Economic, and Environmental Factor Study conducted in New South Wales, Australia, in 2010. Multiple logistic regression was used in 2013 to examine the associations of usual daily driving time with health-related behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, diet, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep) and outcomes (obesity, general health, quality of life, psychological distress, time stress, social functioning), adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics. Findings suggested that longer driving time was associated with higher odds for smoking, insufficient physical activity, short sleep, obesity, and worse physical and mental health. The associations consistently showed a dose-response pattern and more than 120 minutes of driving per day had the strongest and most consistent associations with the majority of outcomes. This study highlights driving as a potential lifestyle risk factor for public health. More population-level multidisciplinary research is needed to understand the mechanism of how driving affects health.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203