Truck drivers’ perceptions on wearable devices and health promotion: a qualitative study
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3323-3
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Summary
This qualitative study investigates professional truck drivers’ perceptions of wearable health devices and mobile health (mHealth) technologies as tools for health promotion. The research was motivated by the recognition that truck drivers constitute a high-risk group for cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and sleep disorders due to sedentary work, irregular schedules, and poor dietary habits. Despite the potential of mHealth to improve wellbeing in this population, few interventions have been tested, and little is known about drivers’ attitudes toward such technologies. The study aimed to explore how drivers perceive their health, their willingness to adopt wearable devices, and their concerns regarding privacy and employer monitoring. The researchers conducted a phenomenological qualitative study involving four semi-structured focus groups with 34 full-time, male professional truck drivers in the UK. Participants were recruited through logistics companies, truck magazines, and social media. The focus groups, lasting 50–60 minutes, were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic content analysis. The discussion covered drivers’ views on their lifestyle, past experiences with health technology, expectations of wearable devices, and perceptions of employer-led health initiatives. Data analysis involved iterative coding to identify themes reflecting drivers’ lived experiences and attitudes. The findings revealed five key themes. First, drivers acknowledged their unhealthy lifestyle—characterized by poor diet, lack of exercise, and sleep deprivation—but viewed these conditions as unavoidable consequences of their occupation. Second, they expressed a strong desire to change their lifestyle and were generally willing to use wearable devices as preventive measures, particularly to monitor cardiovascular health. Third, motivation for adoption stemmed from both proactive health management and fear of sudden health events, such as heart attacks, following colleagues’ deaths. Fourth, drivers were ambivalent about continuous monitoring; while some appreciated the reassurance of being tracked, many feared that employers might use health data to scrutinize performance or jeopardize job security. Fifth, drivers questioned whether company-sponsored health initiatives were driven by genuine care or economic interests, such as reducing liability and maintaining workforce productivity. The study concludes that wearable devices hold promise for improving truck drivers’ health, provided that interventions are tailored to their unique working conditions and address privacy concerns. The significant gap between drivers’ self-reported health status and their actual lifestyle highlights the value of qualitative methods in uncovering hidden issues. The authors emphasize that future health promotion initiatives must balance technological benefits with data protection to gain driver trust. Additionally, the low participation rate of haulage companies suggests a broader industry neglect of driver health, underscoring the need for further research and policy attention to support this vulnerable workforce.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | OpenAlex-citations | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| archive | success | unpaywall | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-20 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: observational prevalence