Older Firefighters Have an Increased Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

Older firefighters may have more thrombotic risk factors that contribute to a higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology 73rd Annual Scientific Session & Expo.

Investigators conducted the study to determine which CHD risk factors are more prevalent in older versus younger firefighters, as well as which factors are associated with severity of atherosclerosis, which was determined using computed tomography to measure coronary artery calcification (CAC) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT).

A total of 296 firefighters from the Federal Emergency Management Association-funded Firefighter Heart Disease Prevention study (MW-2006-FP-01744) were analyzed for CHD risk markers above and below the average age of 47.7 years, along with CAC and CIMT.

The results showed that older firefighters had significantly higher systolic blood pressure, higher waist-to-hip ratio, and lower total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B. Moreover, older firefighters had appreciably higher CAC scores (P=.02) and CIMT thickness (P<.0002).

The researchers concluded that, as expected, “older firefighters had higher CAC and CIMT measurements. However, measures of potential thrombosis risk were significantly greater in older versus younger firefighters and may contribute to CHD risk in this population.”