Prospective Surveillance of Hypertension in Firefighters

Details

• Personal Author:
  Christiani, David C. ; Kales SN ; Liarokapis D ; Soteriades ES
• Description:
  The authors evaluated blood pressure and antihypertensive medication use in 334 firefighters in an occupational medical surveillance program. Firefighters received written summaries of their examination results, including blood pressures, and were encouraged to see their personal physicians for any abnormal results. The mean age of the participants was 39 years, and the vast majority were men (n=330). The prevalence of hypertension was 20% at baseline (1996), 23% in 1998, and 23% in 2000. Among firefighters with high blood pressure readings, only 17%, 25%, and 22% were taking antihypertensive medications at the baseline, 1998, and 2000 examinations, respectively. Medical surveillance was effective in detecting hypertension in firefighters; however, after 4 years of follow-up, only 42% of hypertensives were receiving treatment with medications, including only 22% of firefighters with hypertensive readings. Overall, 74% of hypertensives were not adequately controlled. Possible reasons for low treatment rates may be the inadequate recognition among primary care physicians that mild hypertension is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Blood Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Demography Firefighters Men Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Sex Characteristics

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• Keywords:
  Age-factors Blood-pressure Cardiovascular-system-disease Cardiovascular-system-disorders Demographic-characteristics Fire-fighters Hypertension Risk-factors Sex-factors Surveillance-programs
• ISSN:
  0748-450X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  315-320
• Volume:
  5
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029247
• Citation:
  J Clin Hypertens 2003 Sep-Oct; 5(5):315-320
• Contact Point Address:
  The Cambridge Hospital, Department of Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Health, 1493 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Health Services Research
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard University, Department of Environmental Health, Boston, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19980930
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Clinical Hypertension
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cd130636c1bc2b8b5392c9403ae255d351a221faaf1afd725bd15a88ac457e881bae60856d32c808b68a80fad85de59ccda34837f3cb952b81565960293036c7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190279/cdc_190279_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 936.60 KB ]