Every disease…man can get can start in this cab Focus Groups to Identify South Asian Taxi Drivers’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs About Cardiovascular Disease and Its Risks

• Published in: Journal of immigrant and minority health Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. 986 - 992
• Main Authors: Gany, Francesca M., Gill, Pavan P., Ahmed, Ayaz, Acharya, Sudha, Leng, Jennifer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer Science + Business Media 01-10-2013; Springer US
• Subjects: Adult; Automobile Driving; Bangladesh - ethnology; Cardiovascular Diseases - ethnology; Cardiovascular Diseases - prevention & control; Comparative Law; Focus Groups; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; India - ethnology; International & Foreign Law; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; New York City; Occupational Diseases - prevention & control; ORIGINAL PAPER; Pakistan - ethnology; Private International Law; Public Health; Sociology; Young Adult; New York City; Bangladesh; Pakistan; India; Cardiovascular disease; Perceived barriers; Taxi driver; South Asian; Immigrant
• ISSN: 1557-1912; 1557-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s10903-012-9682-7

South Asian (SA) taxi drivers potentially possess a double epidemiologic risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to their ethnicity and occupation. This study investigates SA taxi drivers’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs about general health, CVD and approaches to reduce CVD risk. Five focus groups were conducted with 31 SA taxi drivers in the participants’ primary language (Bengali, Hindi, Urdu or Punjabi). Audio-recordings of the sessions were transcribed, translated and entered into ATLAS. ti 6.2 for coding and analysis. SA drivers in an urban setting perceive themselves to be at high risk for CVD because of high work-related stress, physical inactivity, poor diet and poor health care access. Participants attributed their occupation to increasing risk for heart disease; none believed that being SA increased their risk. Interventions to lower CVD risk among SA taxi drivers should be multi-level and involve the individual drivers and the taxi industry.