Workers who commute by car, bus or train to the office are more likely to suffer from stress and exhaustion, according to researchers from Lund University in Sweden.
Workers who commute by car, bus or train to the office are more likely to suffer from stress and exhaustion, according to a study.
Scientists assessed 12,000 employees aged between 18 and 65.
They found that those who travelled to work by car or public transport reported higher levels of stress and tiredness compared to active commuters who travelled by foot or bicycle.
It is now expected that the study, from Lund Unversity in Sweden, will encourage further investigation into the health impacts of commuting and the best forms of transportation.
Researcher Erik Hansson said: 'Generally car and public transport users suffered more everyday stress, poorer sleep quality, exhaustion and, on a seven point scale, felt that they struggled with their health compared to the active commuters.
'The negative health of public transport users increased with journey time.'
According to the Office for National Statistics, the average Briton commutes for 54 minutes every day.
But now the scientists claim that the advantages of daily travel, such as higher pay or housing conditions, need to be weighed againstthe adverse health effects.
It may also have a cost impact on industry.
According to a CBI and Pfizer Absence and Workplace Health Survey, the UK economy lost 190million working days to absence last year, with each employee taking an average of 6.5 days off sick, costing employers ￡17billion.
However researchers highlightthat the findings, published in the journal BMC Public Health, do not prove that commuting causes ill health and further research is needed.
Income, family background and environmental factors are other variablesthat need to be considered.
Hansson added that the findings would help to 'readdressthe balance between economic needs, health, and the costs of working days lost'.
研究表明，乘汽車、公交車或列車上下班的人更容易感到壓力大和精疲力竭。
科學家評估了1.2萬名年齡在18歲到65歲之間的員工的狀況。
結果發現，那些乘汽車或公共交通工具上下班的人相比那些採用步行或騎車這種動態出行方式的上班族壓力更大、更疲勞。
據稱，瑞典隆德大學的這一研究預計將促使人們進一步去調查通勤對健康的影響，以及最佳的出行方式。
研究人員埃裏克 漢森說：“一般來說，乘汽車和公共交通工具上下班的人每天要承受更多壓力，睡眠品質更差，感覺更疲勞。而且，根據他們在最高分為7分的健康評估表上的打分情況，和動態出行方式的上班族相比，他們覺得自己健康狀況更差。”
“乘坐公共交通工具上下班的人的健康狀況隨著乘車時間的增長而下降。”
根據英國國家統計局的數據，英國人平均每天花在上下班路上的時間為54分鐘。
不過現在科學家指出，每天乘車相伴而來的好處，例如更高的薪水或更好的住房條件，需要與乘車對健康的不利影響進行權衡。
乘車上下班可能還會影響企業的成本。
根據英國工業聯盟和輝瑞制藥公司聯合進行的“缺席和工作場所健康調查”，英國經濟去年因員工缺勤損失了1.9億工作日，平均每個員工休病假6.5天，導致僱主損失170億英鎊。
但是，研究人員強調說，這一研究並未證實乘車上下班會導致健康惡化，這方面還有待進一步研究。該研究發表在期刊《英國醫學委員會公共健康》上。
收入、家庭背景和環境因素是其他需要考慮在內的變數。
漢森補充說，這些研究發現將有助於“重新平衡經濟需要、健康和損失的工作日成本之間的關係。”
