Oral health status among lorry drivers in Hyderabad city - A cross sectional study

Lorry drivers work tirelessly behind the wheels, commuting from one place to another without regular and adequate food, rest and sleep. These people often have odd working hours, long work shifts with frequent changes to their work schedule. In addition, they work in unfavorable climate conditions and face variety of problems like traffic congestions, vehicle fumes, vibrations and poor conditions of roads. Due to this hectic schedule they commonly fall prey to unhealthy lifestyle habits in the form of alcohol consumption, smoking, tobacco chewing etc. mainly to relieve stress. Considering all these factors, lorry drivers form a potential high risk group for oral problems. The present study aimed to assess the oral health status among lorry drivers in Hyderabad city. A total of 611 subjects constituted the study population. Data collection included demographic details and assessment of dentition status, periodontal status and presence of oro-mucosal lesions using modified World Health Organization (WHO) Oral Health Assessment form, 2013. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) package version 21.0. Descriptive statistics were carried out for the demographic variables. Chi square test, Mann Whitney U test, Analysis of Variance and regression analysis determined the association and compared the mean scores based on variables. p