Evaluating Stress Resilience: A Worksite Intervention to Reduce Stress and CVD Risk Factors in Police

Background: As police age, their rates of CVD become up to 70% higher than their civilian peers. Stress is a modifiable risk factor that contributes to chronic disease. The focus of this work is not on modifying the officers’ exposure to stressors but on modifying how they respond to stressful situations. Method: A wait-list controlled experimental design was employed. Measurements were taken at baseline, 3 and 6 months and included psychological and physiological variables. Our stress-resilience intervention educates officers on techniques to manage emotional and physical responses to stress and provides practice sessions with hand-held, non-invasive heart-rhythm monitors. After completing a stress-resilience intervention, officers will likely show lower levels of psychological stress, improved autonomic responses to stress and less CVD risk factors associated with stress.  Results: Preliminary data support differences in control and intervention groups for LDL, BMI and summary scores on several of the psychological measures. Review of the em wave practice session’s data shows that 70 percent of officers had a 100 to 300% improvement in coherence from baseline. Improvement in sleep has been reported. Conclusions: Measuring how the heart adapts to stress may be a good way to measure progress in dealing with stress. This study addresses an important knowledge gap by assessing the extent to which reducing the physiological response to stress may reduce CVD risk in police. If police develop heart disease less often this helps them and society by reducing disability retirements benefits offered by many states to officers with CVD.