ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between the occupational history as a wildland firefighter (WFF) and clinical indicators of cardiovascular health. METHODS: Among 2862 WFFs, we evaluated associations between the number of total days assigned on fire and high-risk categories of three clinically measured cardiovascular indicators. RESULTS: Almost one-third (32%) of WFFs had one or more clinical measures that would place them in high-risk categories for body mass index, blood pressure, and total cholesterol. WFF work history was associated with some of these measures: odds ratio (and 95% confidence interval) for highest versus lowest tertile of days on fire were 1.4 (1.2, 1.8) and 1.2 (1.0, 1.5) for high-risk categories of body mass index and cholesterol, respectively. CONCLUSION: More frequent screening and targeted health promotion programs for WFFs are warranted to increase awareness of cardiovascular risk and prevention strategies.
Subject(s)
Cardiovascular Diseases , Firefighters , Humans , Firefighters/statistics & numerical data , Male , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology , Body Mass Index , Blood Pressure , Cholesterol/blood , Wildfires , Heart Disease Risk Factors , Occupational Exposure/adverse effects , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to compare subclinical measures of cardiovascular health among wildland firefighters (WFFs) to the US general population. METHODS: Our cross-sectional study compared body mass index, total cholesterol, and blood pressure in 11,051 WFFs aged 17 to 64 years using Department of the Interior Medical Screening Program clinical screening examinations between 2014-2018 to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2015-2016 cycle using adjusted logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The logistic regression model shows significantly higher odds of hypertension and prehypertension in WFFs (2.84 times more with 95% CI: 2.28-3.53) than US general population. There were no consistent differences in body mass index or total cholesterol between the two population. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension and prehypertension were more prevalent in WFFs compared with the US general population, which suggests the need for actions for protecting against cardiovascular disease among WFFs.