The Daily Commute, Commuting Stress and Health Related Quality of Life - A Case Study of Georgetown, Guyana

The aim of this dissertation is to develop an understanding of the relationships between the daily commute, commuting stress, and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) based on a case study in Georgetown Guyana. Three separate but connected pieces of work were attempted to accomplish this aim. First, a scoping review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Guidelines to elucidate the factors that contribute to commuting stress that have already been explored in the literature. This scoping review unearthed 11 factors across three broad categories. The commute-specific factors which contribute to commuting stress include, the length of the commute and the mode of the commute (whether active or non/active). The built environment factors include the levels of traffic congestion, the type of infrastructure that is in place, the landscape that lines the commuting route, and the experience of non-compliant fellow commuters. Personal factors include gender, age, hours of work, and quality of sleep. These factors along with a few others were then tested within a binomial regression framework that utilized data from 427 working adults. The results mirrored what was found in the literature. In addition, there was clarification of the roles of two factors for which the literature appeared to have not comprehensively addressed. These are modes of commute, that is persons who commute by private means are less likely to experience commuter stress than persons who commute via public means. In the third task, the relationship between these novel commute-specific factors and HRQOL. The result of this study demonstrated that persons who used private commuting and who were more satisfied with the commute infrastructure were more likely to have higher HRQOL scores than those who were not satisfied with the commute infrastructure in place and those who used public transportation. The results further demonstrated that commuting stress mediated the relationship between satisfaction with commute infrastructure and HRQOL, but it did not mediate the relationship between commuting mode and HRQOL. To address these issues, it is recommended that action be taken at the micro, meso, and macroeconomic levels. Keywords: urbanization, daily commute, stress, health-related quality of life, Guyana