Taxi and for-hire vehicle (FHV) drivers have risk of high emergency room (ER) utilization, but there is an evidence gap around their utilization patterns and outcomes.
Objective
We sought to describe and find predictors of drivers’ ER use and hospital admissions.
Methods
Bilingual research staff recruited New York City (NYC) metropolitan area licensed full-time taxi/FHV drivers for a cross-sectional survey (December 2016-January 2017) at work-related locations (airport holding lots, taxi garages, etc.). Drivers were stratified by birth region, age group, and driving arrangement (taxi or FHV type).
Results
We recruited 422 taxi/FHV drivers (97% male, mean age 45 years [12 SDs]). The most frequent region of birth was South Asia (36%). Average time in the U.S. was 19.9 years (11 SDs); 28% indicated speaking English “very well”. Twenty three percent had past-year ER use, with 44% subsequently admitted to hospital. In multivariate regression analyses, we found that financially being able to cover one's expenses with some left over and not having a past-year general health check-up increased the odds of visiting the ER. There were no significant predictors of hospital admissions.
Conclusions
Our study is the first to show high hospital admissions following ER visits among NYC taxi/FHV drivers, which were 4 times more frequent than in the general U.S. population. Non-emergency/preventable ER use could likely be lessened by increasing awareness of and motivation to access routine health visits for general health care and chronic condition management. More research is needed into high hospital admission rates.
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