Coronary heart disease risk factors in employees of Iowa's Department of Public Safety compared to a cohort of the general population

Abstract

The prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors in law enforcement personnel compared to that in the general population was studied by determining the predicted 10‐year risk for developing CHD (CHD10, expressed as %) in subjects from the Iowa Department of Public Safety and comparing it to the average CHD10 for similarly aged subjects in the Framingham Heart Study cohort. The Iowa data included measures on 388 men from 30 to 64 years old, 246 of whom were measured in 1980–1981 and again in 1992–1993. The CHD10 came from an algorithm developed using the Framingham data; it included measures of age, gender, cholesterol, HDL‐C, systolic blood pressure, smoking habit, glucose level, and left ventricular hypertrophy (ECG criteria). For this group, average CHD10 was reported by age in five‐year increments [Circulation 83:356, 1991]. The Iowa subjects (n = 388) did not show a statistically significant difference in CHD10 from the reference population (8.9% versus 7.9%). The change with age was very similar in the two groups; for Iowa (n = 388) the estimate was CHD10 = −16.5 + .59 (age); for Framingham it was CHD10 = −17.5 + .60 (age). The change in individual risk factors with time was also similar in both groups; the per year change in CHD10 in the Iowa subjects, which was measured twice (n = 246, 0.63%), did not differ statistically from the 0.60% change predicted by the Framingham model. These results suggest that, for the risk factors considered here, the 10‐year probability of developing CHD among Iowa law enforcement personnel is similar to that found in the Framingham population. Am. J. Ind. Med. 31:733–737, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Coronary Heart Disease Risk in Volunteer Firefighters in Victoria, Australia

“…In summary, volunteer CFA firefighters' 10-year CHD risk was greater than other volunteer firefighter 8 and paid emergency service 14,16,39,40 populations. In comparison, CFA firefighters were older and had higher BP than other emergency services, 8,14,16,39,40 which, therefore, could contribute to their higher overall CHD risk.…”

“…49 Therefore, given the various fire ground stressors, firefighting work could act like a secondary risk factor for adverse CHD events among susceptible personnel. Volunteer CFA firefighters' 10-year CHD risk appears high when compared with other volunteer 8 and paid emergency service 14,16,39,40 populations. Unlike their paid counterparts, volunteer firefighting departments do not typically require their firefighters to meet stringent health employment standards nor do they require them to exercise or train regularly.…”

“…40 The studied volunteer CFA firefighters who underwent CHD risk prediction were, on average, older (50 ± 11 years) than US army personnel (42 ± 2 years) 39 and male police (43 ± 8 years). 40 Compared with army personnel, 39 the CFA firefighters also demonstrated a higher prevalence of smoking and diabetes. Taylor et al 39 reported that 14% of army personnel had hypertension, defined as SBP >135 mm Hg, DBP >85 mm Hg, or a history of hypertension.…”

Law enforcement and cardiovascular risk: Findings of a cross-sectional study from Rural Karnataka

“…1,2 It has been reported by researchers that due to enormous stress, police officers suffer from different physiological disorders, such as gastrointestinal, insomnia, psychological disorders,family dysfunction 1,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and cardiovascular disorders 10,11 than the general population. The objective of the study was to estimate the burden of individual and aggregated CVD risk factors and predict the 10 year risk of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular event in this population using Framingham risk score.…”

Anthropometric indicators of obesity in policemen: A systematic review of observational studies

“…Other studies of police officers have also shown a higher prevalence of BMIs above 25 (level above normal weight) among officers (82.6%) than among the general population (74.7%), which could be misleading with regard to the potential risk for metabolic and cardiovascular diseases [33,34]. Additionally, Hartley et al [35] have verified the association between depression symptoms and metabolic syndrome in 450 policemen (410 Buffalo, New York Police Officers and 130 Spokane Heart Study Police Officers).…”