Lifestyle practices and occupational stressors as predictors of health outcomes in urban firefighters.
Authors
Murphy-SA; Bond-GE; Beaton-RD; Murphy-J; Johnson-LC
Source
Int J Stress Manag 2002 Oct; 9(4):311-327
Abstract
This study developed lifestyle risk factor profiles for firefighters and tested the influence of lifestyle along with other individual and organizational risk and protective factors on emotional and physical health outcomes. A sample of 441 male firefighters was recruited from 2 urban fire departments in a Pacific Northwest state. Self-reported questionnaire data were collected and analyzed by descriptive and multivariate statistics. In this sample of firefighters, 13% met criteria for lifestyle strengths, 53% met criteria for lifestyle concerns, and 33% met criteria for lifestyle risks. After controlling for the influence of demographic factors, job stressors, and job satisfaction, the lifestyle risk composite variable (based on exercise, alcohol consumption, and smoking), accounted for a significant increase in the variance predicting health outcomes. It was concluded that lifestyle behaviors deserve increased attention from occupational health researchers.
Keywords
Occupational-health; Fire-fighters; Fire-fighting; Job-analysis; Stress; Work-environment; Job-stress; Risk-factors; Questionnaires; Psychological-stress
Contact
Shirley Murphy, Department of Psychosocial and Community Health, Box 357263, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7263
Document Type
Journal Article
Email Address
samurphy@u.washington.edu
Identifying No.
Grant-Number-R18-OH-003559
Source Name
International Journal of Stress Management
Performing Organization
Washington University, Seattle, Washington
