Perceptions of Occupational Cancer Risk and Prevention Among Dominican Republic Firefighters: A Qualitative Study.

Abstract

Characterize occupational cancer risk perceptions and attitudes toward cancer prevention practices among firefighters in the Dominican Republic. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted in June 2019 among firefighters from three fire departments. Themes were inductively created using a qualitative descriptive approach. Thirty-seven firefighters were interviewed with a group mean age of 36.2 ± 10.3 years, of which 97.3% were male, and 37.1% worked at least 10 years. Six themes emerged: 1) availability of personal protective equipment (PPE); 2) toxic exposure during fire suppression; 3) work-related stress; 4) lack of workplace health promotion activities; 5) Dominican culture impacts medical checkups; and 6) expensive medical copays limits healthcare access. Dominican firefighters are willing to adopt cancer prevention practices, however organizational barriers (ie, PPE availability, cultural barriers, and health promotion practices) limit engagement.