Commuting and work: Health effects on an exposed occupational population

Introduzione. Commuting is generally described as a modern society issue; despite the relevance of this phenomenon, only few studies investigated occupational and health effects of commuting on workers exposed to it According to the is"" census of the Italian population, in Italy about 29 millions of people (48,6% of total resident population) daily moved to reach their work. During last ten years, this number increased of about 2.1 millions of people, and also time and distances needed to reach work grew, with a potential high impact on health and environment Thus, the aim of this study is to analyze the possible relationship between commuting and health effects on a group of workers exposed to this risk factor. Materials and Methods. Our study analyses health effects related to commuting in an exposed occupational population, by means of the self-completed ad-hoc questionnaire provided to workers of different plants in the North of Italy. Results. Our results are consistent with scientific literature ones. Commuting exposed workers showed increased risk of headache and sleep disorders. Conclusions. Our study is an explorative but structured evaluation of health effects of commuting and a base for further researches.