Background: Firefighters are exposed to toxic agents increasing their risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease. We examined the odds of cancer and cardiovascular mortality of firefighters relative to a matched group of non-firefighters from the general population.
Methods: Firefighter death records were matched to four non-firefighter death records on age at time of death, sex, race, ethnicity, and year of death. Exact odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals, and P-values were calculated using conditional logistic regression to compare groups.
Results: The odds of death due to malignant cancers was significantly higher for firefighters than non-firefighters (OR: 1.19; 95%CI 1.08, 1.30). There was no difference in the odds of death for cardiovascular diseases, including ischemic heart disease, between the two groups.
Conclusions: The study suggests the importance of early and effective cancer prevention strategies among firefighters including worksite health promotion programs and incumbent physical activity evaluation.
Keywords: cancer; cardiovascular disease; case-reference; firefighters; mortality.
© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.