Prevalence of the risk factors for cardiometabolic disease among firefighters in the Western Cape province of South Africa

Achmat, Ghaleelullah; Leach, Lloyd; Onagbiye, Sunday O.

doi:10.23736/s0022-4707.19.09137-0

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Future research could utilise this questionnaire with firefighters to understand the motivations for eating during the day, as this is important for understanding what is driving eating behavior on-shift. The health effects of different snack choices, for example healthier snacks vs. high fat snacks, could also be investigated in future research in order to reduce the long-term health conditions reported by wildland firefighters [21,22]. Given firefighters are likely to be working into the night [17], replicating the current study during the night is an important next step.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to a number of factors such as shift start time, shift length, and sleeping in hot, smoky, and noisy conditions, some research has shown that firefighters can sleep on average for as little as 3-4 h per day [6,18]. While this level of sleep restriction can impair cognitive performance [13,14], it is also associated with greater risk of long-term health effects [19,20], with cardiometabolic disease prevalent among firefighters [21,22]. Further, the additive effect of sleep restriction in hot conditions has a synergistic effect on cognitive performance when compared with performance in hot or sleep restricted conditions alone [13,14], which has the potential to influence long-term health.While the aforementioned body of research highlights some of the impacts of hot and sleep restricted conditions, what is unknown, is the influence of heat and sleep restriction on the food intake of firefighters during wildfire suppression.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Hot, Tired and Hungry: The Snacking Behaviour and Food Cravings of Firefighters during Multi-Day Simulated Wildfire Suppression

et al. 2020

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Firefighters are exposed to numerous stressors during wildfire suppression, including working in hot temperatures and sleep restricted conditions. Research has shown that when sleep restricted, individuals choose foods higher in carbohydrates, fat, and sugar, and have increased cravings for calorie dense foods. However, there is currently no research on the combined effect of heat and sleep restriction on snacking behaviour. Conducting secondary analyses from a larger study, the current study aimed to investigate the impact of heat and sleep restriction on snacking behaviour and food cravings. Sixty-six firefighters completed three days of simulated physically demanding firefighting work and were randomly allocated to either the control (n = 18, CON; 19 • C, 8 h sleep opportunity), sleep restricted (n = 16, SR; 19 • C, 4-h sleep opportunity), hot (n = 18, HOT; 33 • C, 8 h sleep opportunity), or hot and sleep restricted (n = 14 HOT + SR; 33 • C, 4-h sleep opportunity) condition. During rest periods firefighters were able to self-select sweet, savoury, or healthy snacks from a ration pack and were asked to rate their hunger, fullness, and cravings every two hours (eating block). Mixed model analyses revealed no difference in total energy intake between conditions, however there was a significant interaction between eating block and condition, with those in the CON, HOT, and HOT + SR condition consuming significantly more energy between 1230 and 1430 compared to the SR condition (p = 0.002). Sleep restriction and heat did not impact feelings of hunger and fullness across the day, and did not lead to greater cravings for snacks, with no differences between conditions. These findings suggest that under various simulated firefighting conditions, it is not the amount of food that differs but the timing of food intake, with those that are required to work in hot conditions while sleep restricted more likely to consume food between 1230 and 1430. This has potential implications for the time of day in which a greater amount of food should be available for firefighters.Nutrients 2020, 12, 1160 2 of 18 over multiple days, and during this time experience a myriad of physical and emotional stressors, including extreme temperatures reaching 45 • C [5], rough terrain, sleep restriction, limited food availability, and smoke [4,6,7]. Of these stressors, heat and sleep restriction are particularly prevalent.During wildfire suppression, temperatures can range from mild to extreme 18-45 • C [5]. Performing physical work in hot conditions (30 • C) is linked to increased levels of acute stress, with studies showing increases in cortisol levels [8,9] and acute inflammatory responses [10,11]. The majority of research shows that the physical performance of firefighters is largely unaffected in hot conditions [12]. However, cognitive performance is negatively affected under hot conditions [13][14][15]. This is concerning given firefighters are often tasked with making safety critical decisions [4]. For example, firefighters must assess, re...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Hot, Tired and Hungry: The Snacking Behaviour and Food Cravings of Firefighters during Multi-Day Simulated Wildfire Suppression

et al. 2020

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“…Meanwhile, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression have been proven to be independently associated with an increased risk of mortality and morbidity for IHD. Third, natural disasters lead to an increased incidence of well-established risk factors for IHD, including hypertension, dyslipidemia, increased heart rate, BMI, smoking, alcohol abuse, high blood glucose, high-sodium diets and a lower socioeconomic level (such as GDP per capita) [ 3 18 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) Due to Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) Associated with Natural Disasters: A Worldwide Population-Based Ecological Study

Huang

Guha-Sapir

Tao

et al. 2021

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Background: Recent studies have reported an association between natural disasters of various kinds and ischemic heart disease (IHD). We investigated the association between Disabilityadjusted life years (DALYs) due to IHD and natural disasters and aimed to assess DALYs as a quantification of the burden of IHD related to natural disasters at the global level. Methods: Country-specific data of natural disaster impacts DALYs due to IHD and socioeconomic variables were obtained from open sources over the period of 1990-2013 and 2014-2017. A population-based trend ecological design was conducted to estimate the association between trends in DALYs and natural disasters (occurrence, casualties and total damage), adjusting for socioeconomic variables. Results: Most countries have experienced increases in natural disaster occurrences and decreases in DALYs during this study period. The unadjusted correlation analysis demonstrated a positive and significant correlation between DALYs and natural disasters for females and for both sexes (R = 0.163 and 0.146, p = 0.024 and 0.043), and a marginally significant correlation for males (R = 0.128, p = 0.076). After adjusting for socioeconomic variables, multiple linear regression demonstrated independent associations between the occurrence and DALYs due to IHD for males, females and both sexes (standardized coefficients = 0.192, 0.23 and 0.187, p = 0.016, 0.004 and 0.022). Conclusions: A weak but significantly positive association between natural disaster and IHD was confirmed and quantified at the global level by this DALY metric analysis. Adaptation strategies for natural disaster responses and IHD disease burden reduction need to be developed.

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“…In addition to direct physical and mental effects on the population, catastrophic natural disasters have also been found to be related to increased exposure to well-established risk factors for IHD, such as hypertension, increased BMI, smoking, alcohol abuse, high blood glucose, high-sodium diets and a lower socioeconomic level (as represented by the GDP per capita) [11,[31][32][33]. Moreover, all these risk factors can be exacerbated by the widespread destruction of infrastructure and hindered access to public health services [33].…”

Section: Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in ischemic heart disease mortality at the global level and their associations with natural disasters: A 28-year ecological trend study in 193 countries

Huang

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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Background Natural disasters are believed to be associated with cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to explore the changes in mortality due to ischemic heart disease (IHD) and their associations with natural disasters at the global level. Methods Country-specific data on the impact of natural disasters, rates of mortality due to IHD and years of life lost (YLL) and socioeconomic variables were obtained for 193 countries for the period from 1990 to 2017. An ecological trend study was conducted to estimate the changes in the IHD mortality and YLL rates and their associations with natural disasters (occurrence, casualties and total damage). Correlation analyses and multivariate linear regression were used. Results Significant changes were found in the IHD mortality and YLL rates and the occurrence of disasters between the two equal periods (1990 to 2003 and 2004 to 2017) (p<0.001). The bivariate Pearson correlation test revealed that the trend in the occurrence of natural disasters was positively correlated with trends in the IHD mortality and YLL rates among females and all individuals (p<0.05) and was marginally correlated among males. Multiple linear regression revealed an independent association between the occurrence of natural disasters and the IHD mortality rate among males, females and all individuals (standardized coefficients = 0.163, 0.357 and 0.241, p<0.05), and similar associations were found for the YLL rate (standardized coefficients = 0.194, 0.233 and 0.189, p<0.05). Conclusions Our study demonstrated significant changes in the IHD mortality and YLL rates at the global level and their independent associations with natural disasters. Both males and females were vulnerable to natural disasters. These results provide evidence that can be used to support policy making and resource allocation when responding to disasters and developing strategies to reduce the burden of IHD.

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Prevalence of the risk factors for cardiometabolic disease among firefighters in the Western Cape province of South Africa

Cited by 9 publications

References 20 publications

Hot, Tired and Hungry: The Snacking Behaviour and Food Cravings of Firefighters during Multi-Day Simulated Wildfire Suppression

Hot, Tired and Hungry: The Snacking Behaviour and Food Cravings of Firefighters during Multi-Day Simulated Wildfire Suppression

Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) Due to Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) Associated with Natural Disasters: A Worldwide Population-Based Ecological Study

Changes in ischemic heart disease mortality at the global level and their associations with natural disasters: A 28-year ecological trend study in 193 countries

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