Perceptions of Work-Related Health and Cancer Risks Among Women Firefighters: A Qualitative Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Buren H ; Burgess JL ; Caban-Martinez, Alberto J. ; Calkins MM ; Fent K ; Grant C ; Jahnke S ; Louzado Feliciano P ; Parks N ; Santiago KM ; Solle NS
• Description:
  Objectives: We use a qualitative method to gain further insight into women firefighters' experiences, perceptions of cancer, health and safety risks in the fire service. Methods: We conducted six focus groups with U.S. women firefighters. Participants engaged in a 60-75-minute, semi-structured discussion and completed a sociodemographic questionnaire. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to inductively create themes. Data collection concluded when saturation was met. Results: Forty-nine women firefighters participated. Qualitative results indicated the main health concerns include: Occupational cancer risks including, risks related to hazardous exposures, sleep disruption and stress; and Women's health concerns including, cancer, pregnancy and breastfeeding and lack of resources. Conclusions: Women firefighters are concerned about their risk for cancer due to their occupation and identify a lack of resources specific to health and safety needs of women firefighters. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Firefighters Fires Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Women
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Cancer Fire Fighters Firefighters Fire Fighting Health Surveys Occupational Cancer Occupational Cancers Occupational Exposure Qualitative Qualitative Methods Questionnaires Women's Health

  More +
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; California ; Florida ; Kansas ; Massachusetts ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  63
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063526
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2021 Dec; 63(12):e846-e852
• Contact Point Address:
  Natasha Schaefer Solle, PhD, RN, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, 1120 N.W. 14th Street, 12th Floor (R-669), Don Soffer Clinical Research Center, Rm 1233 Miami, Florida 33136
• Email:
  n.schaefer@umiami.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a6d725e0f2e44585f096778b3db792b54efa16d0ec92aee0676b75b66a2621d450829a97cebf603af7565444413ecd3d69b984a67a8cef2bd64df561853c0e7d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222116/cdc_222116_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 245.88 KB ]