The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #70351

Fangchao Ma, MD MPH¹, Lora E. Fleming, MD PhD MPH MSc², David James Lee, PhD², and Edward Trapido, ScD². (1) Medicine, University of Miami School of Medicine, 1201 NW 16th St., NH207 (11GRC), Miami, FL 33125, 305-324-3388, fma@med.miami.edu, (2) Epidemiology & Public Health (R-669), University of Miami School of Medicine, PO Box 016069, Miami, FL 33101

To investigate whether exposure to occupational hazards among firefighters could lead to an increased risk of cancer, lung or heart diseases, age- and gender-adjusted mortality rates of fulltime firefighters were compared with the general Florida population in a standardized mortality study (SMR). Information was obtained from 35,777 male and 2,165 female Florida professional firefighters who were certified between 1972 and 1999. A total of 1,449 deaths among Florida firefighters (1,411 male and 38 female) were identified by linkage with Florida Vital Statistics. In male firefighters, mortality due to all causes, respiratory diseases, diseases of the circulatory system, and most other non-malignant diseases was significantly less than expected. There was no excess risk of overall mortality from cancer, but excesses of male breast cancer (standardized mortality ratio (SMR)=7.41; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.99-18.96) and thyroid cancer (4.82; 1.30-12.34) were found. Female firefighters had similar morality patterns to other Florida women for all diseases except atherosclerotic heart disease (3.85; 1.66-7.58). These findings indicate that firefighters as a group were healthier than the general population and without significant occupational disease mortality.

This work was funded in part by a grant from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Learning Objectives:

• Identify occupational hazards of firefighting
• Familize the concept of mortality study
• Evaluate the general mortality and firefighting

Keywords: Mortality, Occupational Exposure

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.