Association between depressive symptoms and metabolic syndrome in police officers: results from two cross-sectional studies.
Policing is one of the most dangerous and stressful occupations and such stress can have deleterious effects on health. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between depressive symptoms and metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) in male and female police officers from two study populations, Buffalo, NY and Spokane, WA. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. MetSyn was defined using the 2005 AHA/NHBLI guidelines. Analysis of covariance was used to describe differences in number of MetSyn components across depressive symptom categories. The number of MetSyn components increased significantly across categories of CES-D for Spokane men only (p-trend = 0.003). For each 5-unit increase in CES-D score, odds increased by 47.6% for having hypertriglyceridemia, by 51.8% for having hypertension, and by 56.7% for having glucose intolerance. Exploring this association is important since both are predictors of future chronic health problems and the results could be helpful in developing future gender-specific prevention and intervention efforts among police officers.
Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA. thartley@cdc.gov
Tara A
TA
Hartley
Sarah S
SS
Knox
Desta
D
Fekedulegn
Celestina
C
Barbosa-Leiker
John M
JM
Violanti
Michael E
ME
Andrew
Cecil M
CM
Burchfiel
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001244:Association; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016495:Police / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D055815:Young Adult