It is evident that professional driving is associated with substantial changes in lifestyle habits. Professional drivers are prone to metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its complications because their working environment is characterized by numerous stress factors such as lack of physical activity due to working in a fixed position, disruption in diet, and irregular sleep habits. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of MetS among long distance drivers residing in West Azerbaijan province in Iran. To assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among professional long distance drivers, 12138 participants were enrolled in this cross sectional study. The MetS was defined using International Diabetes Federation criteria. Among12138 participants, 3697 subjects found to be MetS. The crude and age-adjusted rates of MetS were 30.5% and 32.4% respectively. Based on Body mass index (BMI), 5027 subjects (41.4%) were overweight (BMI ≥25.01–30 kg/m2), and 2592 (21.3%) were obese (BMI ≥30.01 kg/m2). The presence of central obesity was more common than other components. The associations of MetS with BMI, pack-year smoking, age, weekly driving duration and driving experiences were significant in the logistic regression. By increasing BMI, pack-year smoking, age, weekly driving duration and driving experiences, odds ratio of MetS was increased. The study suggests that MetS has become a noteworthy health problem among Iranian long distance drivers. This might be due to the following facts: sitting in a fixed position for long hours while working, cigarette smoking, job stress, unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity. Educational programs should be established for promoting healthy lifestyle and also for early detection and appropriate interventions

Association between metabolic syndrome and sensorineural hearing loss: a cross-sectional study of 11,114 participants Javad Aghazadeh-Attari,1 Behnam Mansorian,2 Mohammad Mirza-Aghazadeh-Attari,3 Jamal Ahmadzadeh,2 Iraj Mohebbi2 1Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Department of Neurosurgery, 2Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Occupational Medicine Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, 3Medical Philosophy and History Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Background/objectives: Hearing loss (HL) is associated with certain diseases and affects health, resulting in a low quality of life. Some components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) coincide with the risk factors for sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). To date, very few studies have examined the link between MetS and HL. The aim of the current study was to try to understand the potential association between MetS and HL.Methods: Using Iranian health surveys of professional drivers, we enrolled 11,114 individuals aged 20–60 years, whose main job is to operate a motor vehicle. We examined participants for the presence and absence of SNHL and the components of the MetS. Additionally, we investigated the relationship between MetS and the pure tone air conduction hearing thresholds of participants with SNHL, including low-frequency and high-frequency thresholds.Results: This cross-sectional study consisted of 11,114 participants: 3202 (28.81%) diagnosed with MetS and 7911 (71.18%) without and 2772 (24.94%) with SNHL and 8432 (75.86%) without. Participants with SNHL had a higher number of components of MetS (P<0.001 for all components).Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that an association possibly exists between different components of MetS (obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, high fasting glucose levels, and waist circumference) and SNHL in a population of West Azerbaijan drivers. Therefore, it is important to schedule periodic checkups for drivers to detect and avoid the increase in MetS components at an early stage in this population. Keywords: metabolic syndrome, obesity, sensorineural hearing loss, a cross-sectional study

This study examined the effect of shift work on developing the metabolic syndrome by comparing groups of exposed and unexposed Iranian drivers. We considered as night-shift drivers those drivers whose shifts included at least 15 h per week between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Daytime drivers were defined as drivers working regularly without shift work. 3039 shift work drivers were selected. These were matched with non-shift workers. The differences in baseline characteristics and the prevalence of the components of the metabolic syndrome were assessed with Student’s t test, and chi-square tests. We found central adiposity in 52.0% of the shift workers versus 42.6% of the day workers (p < 0.0001). The hypertension component was not significantly related to shift work (p > 0.05); but there were significant differences as regards other components of the metabolic syndrome (p < 0.0001). Among the shift workers, the odds ratios of the increased FBS, low HDL-C, higher TG levels, as well as higher waist circumference were 1.992 (95% CI: 1.697–2.337), 1.973 (95% CI: 1.759–2.213), 1.692 (95% CI: 1.527–1.874), and 1.460 (95% CI: 1.320–1.616), respectively. The metabolic syndrome was more common among the shift workers (OR = 1.495; 95% CI: 1.349–1.657). In evaluating such results, further consideration is needed to find pathophysiological clarification; in turn, stress linked to shift work must be considered to likely have had a relevant influence on the outcome. In our opinion, shift work acts as an occupational factor for the metabolic syndrome.