PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Yan Ge AU - Shanshan He AU - Yan Xu AU - Weina Qu TI - Effects of dietary patterns on driving behaviours among professional truck drivers: the mediating effect of fatigue AID - 10.1136/oemed-2020-107206 DP - 2021 Sep 01 TA - Occupational and Environmental Medicine PG - 669--675 VI - 78 IP - 9 4099 - http://oem.bmj.com/content/78/9/669.short 4100 - http://oem.bmj.com/content/78/9/669.full SO - Occup Environ Med2021 Sep 01; 78 AB - Objective To explore the impact of the dietary patterns of truck drivers on their driving behaviours and the mediation effect of fatigue between these factors.Methods A sample of 389 male truck drivers from a transport company in Suzhou, China completed the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI), the Positive Driver Behaviours Scale (PDBS) and the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). The associations among dietary patterns, fatigue and driving behaviour were examined using pathway analysis.Results Four dietary patterns were identified based on principal component analysis: animal-derived foods, staple foods, snacks and vegetables. The pathway analysis showed that the vegetable-rich pattern had a direct positive impact on positive driving behaviour (β=0.211, p<0.001); the animal-derived pattern had a direct positive impact on errors (β=0.094, p<0.05) and ordinary violations (β=0.071, p<0.05); the snacks pattern had a direct negative impact on positive driving behaviour (β=−0.191, p<0.001); fatigue mediated the effect of dietary patterns on driving behaviours (p<0.001); and the staple foods had an indirect effect on driving behaviours.Conclusions Overall, the driving behaviours of truck drivers are correlated with their dietary patterns. Drivers who preferred vegetables and staple foods had more positive driving behaviour, while the animal-derived food and snack patterns were related to dangerous driving behaviour. The experience of fatigue could explained the underlying mechanism between these factors.Data are available upon reasonable request. If you need data, please contact us via gey@psych.ac.cn.