Assessing Health Outcome of Occupational Exposures on Taxi Drivers in Kathmandu Valley

Abstract

Taxi drivers are workers who drive as a profession to drop passengers from their current location to their destined location. As a direct result of taxi drivers’ occupational environment which is irregular in terms of working hours and duration, poor posture, inadequate diet and lack of proper toilet facilities, they are vulnerable to different health hazards. Even though the taxi drivers are vulnerable groups to disease, this group is often neglected due to which there are very few studies done on them especially in Nepal. A questionnaire-based cross sectional exploratory study was conducted in the Kathmandu Valley. The study population included the registered taxi drivers of the Kathmandu Valley. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS. The study highlights that the respondents are exposed to health hazards due to their occupational environment, diet and lifestyle, and medical help seeking behaviours.