Knee pain and driving duration: A secondary analysis of the taxi drivers' health study

Objectives. We explored a postulated association between daily driving time and knee pain. Methods. We used data from the Taxi Drivers' Health Study to estimate 1-year prevalence of knee pain as assessed by the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. Results. Among 1242 drivers, the prevalence of knee pain, stratified by duration of daily driving (less than or equal to6, > 6 through 8, > 8 through 10, and >10 hours), was 11%, 17%, 19%, and 22%, respectively. Compared with driving 6 or fewer hours per day, the odds ratio of knee pain prevalence for driving more than 6 hours per day was 2.52 (95% confidence interval= 1.36, 4.65) after we adjusted for socioeconomic, work-related, and personal factors in the multiple logistic regression. Conclusions. The dose-related association between driving duration and knee pain raises concerns about work-related knee joint disorders among professional drivers.