Fire Fighting and Coronary Heart Disease

DIBBS, ELAINE M.A.
THOMAS, H. EMERSON JR. M.D.
WEISS, SCOTT T. M.D.
SPARROW, DAVID M.S.

From the Normative Aging Study, Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic; Evans Memorial Department of Clinical Research and Department of'Medicine, University Hospital, Boston University Medical Center; and Pulmonary Unit, Thorndike Laboratory, Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Address for correspondence: David Sparrow, Normative Aging Study, VA Outpatient Clinic, 17 Court Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02108.

Supported by the Medical Research Service of the Veterans Administration.

Dr. Weiss is the recipient of Clinical Investigator Award 1 KO 8 HL-00740-01, NHLBI.

Received May 22, 1981; revision accepted August 10, 1981.

Circulation 65(5):p 943-946, May 1982.

SUMMARY

Some studies suggest that fire fighters are at a higher risk of developing coronary heart disease than are males in the general population. We followed 1646 men for 10 years to determine the incidence of coronary heart disease. Subjects were participants of the Normative Aging Study, a longitudinal study of aging. Comparison of fire fighters (n = 171) and non-fire fighters (n = 1475) showed no significant difference in the incidence rates of coronary heart disease. Comparison of the groups regarding baseline risk factors revealed no material difference. These data suggest that fire fighters do not have an excess risk of coronary heart disease.