Diminished health status in firefighters

Abstract

The objective was to assess the diminished health status of firefighters in the Netherlands. Two hundred and seventy-eight firefighters were tested during a workers’ health surveillance. Psychological, physical, sense-related and cardiovascular markers vital to job performance were investigated and the relative frequency of deficiencies in health markers was determined. Deficiencies were found in all health markers investigated. The most prevalent deficiencies were (1) physical status when not passing a job-specific test (25%) and (2) cardiovascular disease risk factors – BMI (57%), systolic hypertension (23%) and smoking (22%). Diminished health status of firefighters typically involved deficiencies in physical markers and cardiovascular disease risk factors. It is recommended that occupational physicians initiate interventions for individual firefighters to address diminished health in these respects.

Practitioner Summary

In this study, health markers required for firefighter job performance were assessed. Diminished health status typically involved deficiencies in physical markers and cardiovascular disease risk factors. This study makes ergonomists and other health-care professionals aware of the most prevalent health marker deficiencies in firefighters and results highlight the relevance of performing workers' health surveillance in firefighters.

Keywords:

• firefighters
• prevalence
• diminished health status
• workers'
• health surveillance

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by A+O Fonds Gemeenten. We thank all of the firefighters who participated in this study.