Prevalence of coronary artery disease risk factors among fire-fighters in Cape Town, South Africa

Background Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and on-duty mortality among fire-fighters. This study investigated the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors among firefighters in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods A quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study design was used. A convenient sample of 219 male fire-fighters with mean age 37.85±9.80 years was recruited. Eight major CAD risk factors were measured. SPSS (ver. 23) was used with the Pearson correlation and Kruskall-Wallis H test with the Mann Whitney test post hoc and a Bonferroni correction. Results The significance level set at p<0.05. Most fire-fighters (65.29%) were stratified as moderate risk for CAD, with 21.00% as low risk, and 14.15% as high risk. A sedentary lifestyle was the most prevalent CAD risk factor (51.14%), followed by obesity (45.90%). and cigarette smoking (38.30%). Statistically significant correlations were found between waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) (r=0.711; p<0.01), hip circumference and BMI (r=0.673; p<0.01), waist circumference and waist-hip ratio (WHR) (r=0.665; p<0.01), and BMI and body mass (r=0.512; p<0.01). Conclusion The majority of fire-fighters presented with multiple modifiable CAD risk factors. Fire departments should focus on promoting education on CAD to reduce the risk of fire-fighters developing heart disease.