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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Carol B. Cunradi, MPH, PhD, Rob Lipton, MPH, PhD, and Rudy Banerjee, PhD. Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1995 University Avenue, Suite 450, Berkeley, CA 94704, 510-883-5771, cunradi@prev.org

The purpose of this study is to determine, in a multiethnic cohort of urban transit operators, if smoking behavior over a ten-year period is related to occupational factors after controlling for sociodemographic variables and drinking. Data are from the San Francisco MUNI Health & Safety study in which a cohort (n=1016; 930 males and 86 females) was followed from 1983-85 to 1993-1995. Information was collected on cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, occupational factors, and sociodemographic variables (age, gender, race/ethnicity). Occupational factors included self-rated frequency of job problems (e.g., difficulties with equipment, passengers, traffic), job burnout (i.e., the emotional exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory), time needed to unwind after work, and years employed as a transit operator. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to estimate the contribution of occupational factors to smoking behavior over time. The dependent measure was dichotomized into workers who initiated, maintained, or increased their smoking during the 10 years of follow-up compared to workers who were never smokers. Overall, about 35% of the cohort was found to have initiated, maintained or increased smoking. Results showed that frequency of job problems (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.30; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.10, 1.58) was a significant predictor of smoking initiation, maintenance or increase after controlling for sociodemographic variables and drinking. Burnout and time needed to unwind were also associated with elevated odds of smoking. Findings suggest that occupational factors, particularly job-related stressors, contribute to likelihood of smoking over time among urban transit operators.

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