Wildland Firefighter Work History and Clinical Indicators of Cardiovascular Health.

Abstract

To determine the association between the occupational history as a wildland firefighter (WFF) and clinical indicators of cardiovascular health. 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. 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. More frequent screening and targeted health promotion programs for WFFs are warranted to increase awareness of cardiovascular risk and prevention strategies.