We gratefully acknowledge the support provided by senior health and safety personnel and transport managers at our partner logistics company in facilitating this research. We gratefully acknowledge all participating drivers in this study for their involvement in the trial. We thank all the casual researchers who are not named on this report but contributed to data collection. Particular thanks must go to Mr Ash Newton and Mr Cameron Wilson for their support of the study during their undergraduate studies. We are very grateful to the independent members of the TSC for their continued support and advice throughout the trial: Dr Derrick Bennett (chairperson, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford), Professor Emma McIntosh (Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow), Professor Petra Wark (Institute of Health and Well-being, Coventry University) and Mr Paul Gardiner (independent HGV driver). We are very grateful to Dr Anna Chalkley (School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University) for acting as an independent ‘critical friend’ during the analysis and write-up of our process evaluation, and to Dr Iuliana Hartescu (School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University) and Dr Alex Rowlands (Diabetes Research Centre, University of Leicester) for their support with the processing of and interpretation of the sleep data collected. We are grateful to Professor Mark Hamer (Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London) for his advice on the protocol used to assess psychophysiological reactivity. We also gratefully acknowledge the support provided by Professor David Stensel (School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University), on behalf of the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, who kindly provided funds to cover research associate time (for Dr Aron Sherry) on this project. We acknowledge the contribution of Mr Nishal Bhupendra Jaicim (former Medical Statistician at the Leicester Clinical Trials Unit), who wrote the SAP. We are also extremely grateful to Mrs Alison Stanley (School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University) for all her help and support throughout the trial, particularly with regard to our public engagement activities. We are very grateful to Miss Helen Buxton (Research Manager, NIHR) for her continued support and advice throughout the running of this study. We also acknowledge the helpful feedback received from the NIHR’s anonymous reviewers on the first draft of this report.
This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (reference 15/190/42). The study was also supported by the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre which is a partnership between University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Loughborough University, and the University of Leicester. Funding to cover intervention costs (e.g. Fitbits, cab workout equipment) was provided by the Higher Education Innovation Fund, via the Loughborough University Enterprise Projects Group. The Colt Foundation provided funding for a PhD studentship, awarded to Amber Guest (reference JD/618), which covered Amber Guest’s time and contributions to this project.
Contributions of authors
Stacy A Clemes (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5612-5898) (Reader in Active Living and Public Health) the principal investigator, had overall responsibility for the study (including funding acquisition, study design and methods development) and report writing, drafted Chapters 1–3 and 6, and provided a detailed review and edit of Chapters 4 and 5.
Veronica Varela-Mato (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4070-6609) (Research Associate) was responsible for the day-to-day management of the project (years 1–3), conducted and oversaw all fieldwork and data collection, co-delivery of the SHIFT education sessions and quantitative process evaluation data, contributed to the study design and methods development, and obtained funds to complete the project.
Danielle H Bodicoat (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2184-4865) (Medical Statistician) was responsible for the statistical analysis and the preparation and presentation of the quantitative results in Chapter 3.
Cassandra L Brookes (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0084-0400) (Principal Statistician) contributed to the study design, methods development, oversight of trial statistics and analysis plan.
Yu-Ling Chen (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6976-4055) (Research Associate) supported the day-to-day management of the project (years 1–2.5), conducted fieldwork, co-delivered the SHIFT education sessions and supported the processing of the activPAL data (blinded).
Edward Cox (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8981-0699) (Research Fellow) contributed to the health economic analysis plan, conducted the economic analysis and drafted the economic analysis reported in Chapter 4.
Charlotte L Edwardson (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6485-9330) (Associate Professor in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Health) contributed to the study design and methods development, and obtained funds to complete the project.
Laura J Gray (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9284-9321) (Professor of Medical Statistics) contributed to the study design, methods development, trial statistics and analysis plan, and obtained funds to complete the project.
Amber Guest (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3610-347X) (Doctoral Researcher) supported the day-to-day running of the project, conducted fieldwork, co-delivered the SHIFT education sessions, and undertook the process evaluation and drafted Chapter 5.
Vicki Johnson (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6709-7634) (Education and Research Associate) contributed to the design and delivery of the SHIFT education programme, and obtained funds to complete the project.
Fehmidah Munir (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5585-0243) (Professor of Health Psychology) contributed to the study design and methods development, and obtained funds to complete the project.
Nicola J Paine (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9988-9310) (Lecturer in Health Psychology) contributed to the study methods and supported the process evaluation.
Gerry Richardson (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2360-4566) (Professor of Health Economics) designed and oversaw the economic analysis, and obtained funds to complete the project.
Katharina Ruettger (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8820-4272) (Doctoral Researcher) supported the day-to-day running of the project, conducted fieldwork, co-delivered the SHIFT education sessions and processed the activPAL data (blinded).
Mohsen Sayyah (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6453-9086) (Research Associate) was responsible for the day-to-day management of the project (year 4), conducted and oversaw data collection, supported data entry and quality control checking, and undertook the processing of the activPAL and Stroop test data (blinded).
Aron Sherry (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7489-253X) (Research Associate) was responsible for the day-to-day management of the project (year 4), conducted and oversaw data collection, supported data entry and quality control checking, and undertook the processing of the GENEActiv data (blinded).
Ana Suazo Di Paola (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8523-8557) (Medical Statistician) assisted and facilitated the statistical analysis and reporting of the trial (including data queries and analysis validation), and facilitated the data transfer between collaborators for statistical and health economics analysis.
Jacqui Troughton (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3690-9534) (Senior Clinical Research Associate) contributed to the design and delivery of the SHIFT education programme, and obtained funds to complete the project.
Simon Walker (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5750-3691) (Research Fellow) contributed to the health economic analysis plan, conducted the economic analysis and drafted the economic analysis reported in Chapter 4.
Thomas Yates (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5724-5178) (Professor) contributed to the study design and methods development, and obtained funds to complete the project.
James King (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8174-9173) (Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology) contributed to the study design and methods development, supported the principal investigator with project oversight and management, and obtained funds to complete the project.
All authors were members of the internal Project Committee for the trial. All authors read drafts and provided revisions on the content of the report and have given final approval for submission.
Publications
Clemes SA, Varela Mato V, Munir F, Edwardson CL, Chen YL, Hamer M, et al. Cluster randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a Structured Health Intervention For Truckers (the SHIFT study): a study protocol. BMJ Open 2019;9:e030175.
Guest AJ, Chen YL, Pearson N, King JA, Paine NJ, Clemes SA. Cardiometabolic risk factors and mental health status among truck drivers: a systematic review. BMJ Open 2020;10:e038993.
Guest AJ, Clemes SA, King JA, Chen YL, Ruettger K, Sayyah M, et al. Attenuated cardiovascular reactivity is related to higher anxiety and fatigue symptoms in truck drivers. Psychophysiology 2021;58:e13872.
Longman DP, Shaw CN, Varela-Mato V, Sherry AP, Ruettger K, Sayyah M, et al. Time in nature associated with decreased fatigue in UK truck drivers. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021;18:3158.
Clemes SA, Varela-Mato V, Bodicoat DH, Brookes CL, Chen YL, Edwardson CL, et al. The effectiveness of the Structured Health Intervention For Truckers (SHIFT): a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT). BMC Med 2022;20:195.
Guest AJ, Paine NJ, Chen YL, Chalkley A, Munir F, Edwardson CL, et al. The Structured Health Intervention For Truckers (SHIFT) cluster randomised controlled trial: a mixed methods process evaluation. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2022;19:79.
Ruettger K, Clemes SA, Chen YL, Edwardson C, Guest A, Gilson N, et al. Drivers with and without obesity respond differently to a multi-component health intervention in heavy goods vehicle drivers. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022;19:15546.
Ruettger K, Varela-Mato V, Chen YL, Edwardson CL, Guest A, Gilson ND, et al. Physical activity, sedentary time and cardiometabolic health in heavy goods vehicle drivers: a cross-sectional analysis. J Occup Environ Med 2022;64:e217–23.
Sherry AP, Clemes SA, Chen YL, Edwardson C, Gray LJ, Guest A, et al. Sleep duration and sleep efficiency in UK long-distance heavy goods vehicle drivers. Occup Environ Med 2022;79:109–15.
Data-sharing statement
All data requests should be submitted to the corresponding author for consideration. Access to available anonymised data may be granted following review.
Disclaimers
This report presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The views and opinions expressed by authors in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NHS, the NIHR, the PHR programme or the Department of Health and Social Care. If there are verbatim quotations included in this publication the views and opinions expressed by the interviewees are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect those of the authors, those of the NHS, the NIHR, the PHR programme or the Department of Health and Social Care.