Taking the Final Exit: Exploring the Distribution, Risks, and Geospatial Attributes of Truck Driver At-Work Deaths in Harris County, Texas

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the distribution, risks, and geospatial attributes of truck driver at-work deaths. METHODS: At-work medical examiner death data from Harris County, Texas were extracted and analyzed using a case-control design. Truck driver cases (n = 52) were matched on age characteristics to non-truck driver controls (n = 156). These data included place of injury/collapse, manner of death, anthropometrics, and demographics. Medical center and American Community Survey data were extracted for geospatial analyses. RESULTS: Truck driver at-work deaths differed from controls in the distribution of manners of death, and they occurred more commonly in underserved census tracts. Truck driver at-work deaths were predicted by both of these differences. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide preliminary evidence for truck driver vulnerability to natural deaths at work and the characterization of truck driver worksites as medical deserts.