Mental workload, musculoskeletal disorders, and associated factors among international transport truck drivers
DOI: 10.47626/1679-4435-2023-1083
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Summary
This cross-sectional study investigates the prevalence of mental workload and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among international transport truck drivers, aiming to identify associated occupational factors. The research was motivated by the high physical and mental demands of the profession, including excessive working hours, forced postures, and significant responsibility, which contribute to health deterioration and reduced quality of life. The study was conducted in January 2021 at the Uruguaiana Dry Port in Brazil, a strategic hub for Mercosul trade. Researchers evaluated 70 male truck drivers who met inclusion criteria of being at least 21 years old, Brazilian nationals, and having a minimum of two years of professional experience. Data were collected using the NASA-TLX questionnaire to assess mental workload and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire to identify MSD symptoms. Participants also completed a custom instrument detailing work characteristics, such as daily hours, and health behaviors, including medication use and healthcare seeking. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation tests, and chi-square tests to determine associations between variables. The results revealed that 90.0% of drivers experienced high mental workload, with a mean NASA-TLX score of 64.95. Additionally, 72.9% reported musculoskeletal symptoms in the preceding 12 months, with the lumbar region and neck being the most affected areas. The participants worked an average of 11.9 hours per day, and 61.5% worked more than 10 hours daily. Significant correlations were found between mental workload and both daily working hours (r = 0.432; p = 0.01) and lumbar injuries. Specifically, 56.2% of drivers reporting lumbar pain in the last seven days had an "intolerable" mental workload classification. Furthermore, working more than 12 hours daily was significantly associated with MSDs in the neck, shoulders, and lumbar region over the last 12 months, as well as shoulder and lumbar pain in the last seven days. Despite high symptom prevalence and daily medication use by 32.9% of drivers, only 25.7% sought specialized healthcare assistance in the previous year. The study concludes that international truck drivers face elevated mental workload and a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, particularly in the lumbar region, driven by excessive working hours. These findings highlight the need for targeted occupational health interventions focused on prevention, early diagnosis, and health promotion to mitigate the physical and mental health risks inherent to this profession.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| archive | success | unpaywall | — | — | 2 | 2026-08-09 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-08-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-nvidia | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 10 | 2026-08-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-nvidia on 2026-08-10; verification: verified.
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