Coronary artery diseasePredictors of On-Duty Coronary Events in Male Firefighters in the United States
Section snippets
Methods
A retrospective design was used to examine 2 groups of male firefighters. Specifically, we compared those who died within 24 hours of an on-duty CHD event with colleagues who survived similar occupational CHD incidents and later received disability pensions. Because of the low proportion of female firefighters and, therefore, the minimal number of available CHD events in women, the study was restricted to men.
The fatal CHD events were drawn from the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and
Results
Of the 87 fatalities, 38% were volunteers. There were no significant differences in the volunteer and career fatalities in the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and previous diagnosis of CHD) or in the proportion of engagement in strenuous duty at the time of the fatal event. The only significant difference in the volunteer and career fatalities was that 34% of the volunteer fatalities were <45 years compared with 15% of the career
Discussion
In this study of case-fatality in on-duty firefighting CHD events, a previous diagnosis of CHD, current smoking, and hypertension were highly significant and independent predictors associated with roughly fourfold increases in death. Consequently, efforts to detect and control hypertension, promote smoking cessation, and restrict most firefighters with significant CHD from emergency operations could decrease firefighting fatalities. Our results also indirectly support screening for CHD in
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The study was supported in part by a pilot project research training grant from the Harvard Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health (Boston, Massachusetts), supported by Training Grant No. T42 OH008416-02 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Cincinnati, Ohio). Additionally, the investigation was supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Public Employees Retirement Administration Commission (Somerville, Massachusetts). The funding agencies had no involvement in study design, data analysis, writing of the report, and/or the decision to submit the report for publication. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.