The association of aerobic fitness with injuries in the fire service

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burgess JL ; Harris RB ; Peate W ; Poplin GS ; Roe DJ
• Description:
  The aim of the present study was to understand the risk of injury in relation to fitness in a retrospective occupational cohort of firefighters in Tucson, Arizona, from 2005 to 2009. Annual medical evaluations and injury surveillance data were linked to compare levels of aerobic fitness in injured employees with those in noninjured employees. The individual outcomes evaluated included all injuries, exercise-related injuries, and sprains and strains. Time-to-event analyses were conducted to determine the association between levels of fitness and injury likelihood. Fitness, defined by relative aerobic capacity (Vo2max), was associated with injury risk. Persons in the lowest fitness level category (Vo2max <43 mL/kg/minute) were 2.2 times more likely (95% confidence interval: 1.72, 2.88) to sustain injury than were those in the highest fitness level category (Vo2max >48 mL/kg/minute). Those with a Vo2max between 43 and 48 mL/kg/minute were 1.38 times (95% confidence interval: 1.06, 1.78) more likely to incur injury. Hazard ratios were found to be greater for sprains and strains. Our results suggest that improving relative aerobic capacity by 1 metabolic equivalent of task (approximately 3.5 mL/kg/minute) reduces the risk of any injury by 14%. These findings illustrate the importance of fitness in reducing the risk of injury in physically demanding occupations, such as the fire service, and support the need to provide dedicated resources for structured fitness programming and the promotion of injury prevention strategies to people in those fields. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Emergency Responders Epidemiology Firefighters Men Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Women
• Keywords:
  Aerobic-metabolism Age-factors Author Keywords: Aerobic Capacity Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Fire Service Humans Injuries Injury Medical-examinations Physical-fitness Risk-factors Surveillance-programs

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• ISSN:
  0002-9262
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  149-155
• Volume:
  179
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043754
• Citation:
  Am J Epidemiol 2014 Jan; 179(2):149-155
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Gerald S. Poplin, University of Virginia, Center for Applied Biomechanics, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace, Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Science, 4040 Lewis and Clark Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22911
• Email:
  poplin@virginia.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Performing Organization:
  University of Arizona, Tucson
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Epidemiology
• End Date:
  20140831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a972a4357c975b42129991125640465b54f1afba60dd10d7e940e5c62332def48a0a7dad2cdc79c8c32b82e706e7fdc504c2df0e4c7020757b809a8159855519
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195574/cdc_195574_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 120.45 KB ]