Effects of a Healthy Lifestyle Intervention and COVID-19-Adjusted Training Curriculum on Firefighter Recruits

Details

• Personal Author:
  Christiani, David C. ; Christophi CA ; Fernandez-Montero A ; Gaviola GC ; Hershey MS ; Kales SN ; Lan F-Y ; Romero-Cabrera JL ; Scheibler C ; Sotos-Prieto M ; Yiannakou I
• Description:
  There are knowledge gaps regarding healthy lifestyle (HLS) interventions in fire academy settings and also concerning the impacts of the pandemic on training. We enrolled fire recruits from two fire academies (A and B) in New England in early 2019 as the historical control group, and recruits from academies in New England (B) and Florida (C), respectively, during the pandemic as the intervention group. The three academies have similar training environments and curricula. The exposures of interest were a combination of (1) an HLS intervention and (2) impacts of the pandemic on training curricula and environs (i.e. social distancing, masking, reduced class size, etc.). We examined the health/fitness changes throughout training. The follow-up rate was 78%, leaving 92 recruits in the historical control group and 55 in the intervention group. The results show an HLS intervention improved the effects of fire academy training on recruits healthy behaviors (MEDI-lifestyle score, 0.5 +/- 1.4 vs. - 0.3 +/- 1.7), systolic blood pressure (- 7.2 +/- 10.0 vs. 2.9 +/- 12.9 mmHg), and mental health (Beck Depression score, - 0.45 +/- 1.14 vs. - 0.01 +/- 1.05) (all P < 0.05). The associations remained significant after multivariable adjustments. Moreover, a 1-point MEDI-lifestyle increment during academy training is associated with about 2% decrement in blood pressures over time, after multivariable adjustments (P < 0.05). Nonetheless, the impacts of pandemic restrictions on academy procedures compromised physical fitness training, namely in percent body fat, push-ups, and pull-ups. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Firefighters Health Promotion Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Blood Pressure COVID-19 Fire Fighters Health Promotion Intervention Effectiveness Mental Health Physical Fitness Training Effectiveness
• ISSN:
  2045-2322
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065966
• Citation:
  Sci Rep 2022 Jun; 12:10607
• Contact Point Address:
  Stefanos N. Kales, Department of Occupational Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Macht Building 427, 1493 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
• Email:
  skales@hsph.harvard.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Scientific Reports
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ed3d1bb489d726fa6cfa990acda0791bd840b6f819d6d71c3618043facb69d504d2ef66474e7d606341f3d426b1a76a2c5e1cb07a25df79456e011a10ed8bb58
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/209059/cdc_209059_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.03 MB ]