Policemen and firefighters encounter numerous emergency events that frequently lead to high burnout and low job support, resulting in adverse health effects. A number of studies reported the correlation between job characteristics and the risk of peptic ulcer diseases (PUD) across various industries. However, there is very little research on evaluating the interaction effects of burnout and job support on the prevalence of PUD among firefighters and policemen. The objective of this study was to assess the interactional effects between burnout and job support on the prevalence of PUD among firefighters and policemen. This was a cross-sectional quantitative study. Registered, full-time police officers and firefighters in Taiwan were anonymously interviewed by a mail-delivered questionnaire. All female workers were excluded due to different job characteristics and a limited sample size. A total of 9328 firefighters and 42,798 policemen completed the questionnaire, with a response rate of 78.7%. Overall, prevalence rates of self-reported and self-reports of physician-diagnosed PUD were 8.3% and 6.5% for policemen and 7.1% and 5.5% for firefighters, respectively. There was a 22% reduced odds ratio of PUD as diagnosed by physicians for the group with low burnout and high job support, but an increased odds ratio of 53% for the group with high burnout and low job support, after adjusting for lifestyle and demographic variables. There must be an increase of job support and reduction of burnout through the modification of work structure and setting up of counseling services to reduce workplace stress and the prevalence of PUD among policemen and firefighters.
Keywords: burnout; firefighters; job support; peptic ulcer diseases (PUD); policemen.