Abstract
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.
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Acknowledgments
Funding for this project was provided by the New York State Department of Health Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program (ECRIP). Thank you to M. Ahmed and A. Suri who helped conduct the Bengali and Urdu focus groups and D. Massie, A. Singh, N. Rastogi, and Z. Siddiqui who assisted with the analysis of data. Thank you to the South Asian Health Initiative for its insights and input.
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Francesca M. Gany and Pavan P. Gill contributed equally as authors and are joint first authors.
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Gany, F.M., Gill, P.P., Ahmed, A. et al. “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. J Immigrant Minority Health 15, 986–992 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9682-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9682-7