# Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components among Taxi Drivers in the City of Tshwane, South Africa
## 4 Discussion  
This paper reports on the prevalence of MetS and its components among taxi drives in the City of Tshwane, South Africa, and further shows the associations of MetS with selected variables. With an average age of 42 years old, over half of the taxi drivers in this study had more than 10 years of experience working in the taxi industry. Older drivers and long working experience are common in the taxi industry [12; 48] and this could be because taxi driving is an organized industry where drivers work as employees in South Africa. However, few taxi drivers reported inadequate sleep of less than four hours at most per day. Literature documents that sleeping hours are related to exhaustion among taxi drivers [49], and that the limit of tolerance for exhaustion is about four to five hours of sleep per day [50]. The age of 50 years is considered as approximately the time when illnesses associated with sleep quality and exhaustion are most prominent [47]. According to [PERSON] and [PERSON] [49], lower prevalence of exhausted driving may lead to lower risks of road traffic accidents, decreased economic loss, increased productivity, and safer roads for all. The current study further showed that poor socioeconomic status was characterized by very few taxi drivers having post high school education while many of them were family provider. In South Africa, poverty and unemployment are generally high, and to some extent illicracy levels are significant among adults [2; 51]. Therefore, the majority of the taxi drivers opt for this occupation because they do not have the qualification to secure jobs of their interest due to limited education and financial difficulty [39]. Additionally, almost all drivers in this study consumed pap during most of their lunch times, while, a third were smoking, half was using alcohol, and two thirds were physically inactive. The nature of taxing driving confines drivers to sitting for long periods, making them have irregular dietary patterns and habits [38], which contribute to the development of cardiometabolic risks for MetS [52]. The current study estimated the prevalence of MetS among taxi drivers at 17.1%, with high prevalence observed among older taxi drivers and those who had a longer term in the industry. There is no sufficient data to make a comparison of metabolic syndrome \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Model 1: Lifestyle** & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Model 1: Lifestyle**} \\  & **Factors** & & **Family Health History** \\ \hline
**Variables** & **AOR (95\% CI)** & \(p\)**-Value** & **AOR (95\% CI)** & \(p\)**-Value** \\ \hline Lifestyle & & & & \\ \hline Smoking & 0.846 (0.440; 1.628) & 0.617 & 0.902 (0.466; 1.743) & 0.758 \\ \hline Alcohol use & 1.147 (0.609; 2.161) & 0.670 & 1.139 (0.601; 2.157) & 0.689 \\ \hline Sleeping hours (\(\geq\)5 h)/day & 1.310 (0.516; 3.327) & 0.570 & 1.366 (0.529; 3.523) & 0.519 \\ \hline Consumption of fruits & 1.222 (1.222; 2.606) & 0.610 & 1.224 (0.570; 2.628) & 0.604 \\ \hline Consumption of vegetables & 1.163 (0.527; 2.570) & 0.708 & 1.157 (0.519; 2.577) & 0.721 \\ \hline Exercise & 0.955 (0.510; 1.788) & 0.886 & 0.998 (0.528; 1.889) & 0.995 \\ \hline Duration in the driving industry (\(\geq\)10 years) & 2.276 (1.222; 4.237) & 0.010 * & 2.305 (0.261; 1.161) & 0.010 * \\ \hline Family health history & & & & \\ \hline Hypertension & & 0.550 (.261; 1.161) & 0.117 \\ \hline Diabetes & & 2.075 (1.035; 4.160) & 0.040 * \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Significant at 5% level.  
\end{table} 
Table 4: Hierarchical logistic regression models for lifestyle and family health history factors associated with MetS among taxi drivers. among taxi drivers in South Africa [11]. A 17.3% prevalence of MetS has been reported among men [53] and low prevalence (15.46%) among women [54] in South Africa. High prevalence of MetS among the general population has been reported among people aged 50 years or older, consistent with the prevalence of MetS reported among older commercial drivers in the current study, and in other countries [55; 56].