The health status of electric train drivers in the Moscow metro according to periodic medical examinations

Introduction. The profession of a subway train driver places high demands on the physical health and mental state of the employee. A sudden deterioration in the driver's health can trigger an emergency situation that poses a threat to the lives of passengers, so regular monitoring of the health status and analysis of the morbidity pattern of electric train drivers in the subway are of paramount importance.

The study aims to analyze the prevalence of general somatic diseases, identify the main nosological forms, and evaluate the overall health status of metro drivers based on data from periodic medical examinations.

Materials and methods. Specialists have conducted a clinical and laboratory examination of 2,642 electric train drivers (men) of Moscow Metro State Unitary Enterprise as part of preventive medical examinations in the clinic of Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Health.

Results. Among the drivers of electric trains, 89.7% had one or more somatic pathologies, of which the main ones were respiratory diseases, diseases of the ear and mastoid process, and diseases of the cardiovascular system. 87.4% of the surveyed needed constant dispensary supervision, 74.1% needed further outpatient examination and treatment, and 9.2% needed sanatorium treatment. A significant (p<0.05) violation of carbohydrate metabolism and indicators of the functioning of the cardiovascular system was revealed in workers with more than 20 years of experience compared with groups with less than 10 years of experience and 10–19 years of experience. Arterial hypertension is significantly more common in employees with more than 20 years of experience than in employees with less than 10 years of experience (p=0.043).

Limitations. The drivers of electric trains were examined only by the State Unitary Enterprise "Moscow Metro".

Conclusion. The results obtained indicate the presence of changes in the cardiovascular system of electric train drivers under prolonged exposure to adverse factors, which necessitates a more detailed and specialized diagnosis of cardiovascular pathology in order to preserve the longevity of this category of workers.

Ethics. The study was conducted in compliance with ethical standards for conducting medical research involving humans in accordance with the requirements of the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association. All the surveyed signed a voluntary informed consent to participate in the study. The study was approved by the conclusion of the local Ethics Committee of Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Health (minutes of the meeting of the Ethics Committee of Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Health No. 8 dated 11.11.2020).

Contributions:
Kuzmina L.P. — concept and design, editing;
Karpushina A.V. — design, collecting and processing data, conducting laboratory tests, text writing, editing;
Kislyakova A.A. — processing data, text writing, editing;
Bezrukavnikova L.M. — editing.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: 22.05.2025 / Accepted: 23.06.2025 / Published: 05.08.2025

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