title: Aerobic Capacity, Physical Activity and Metabolic Risk Factors in Firefighters Compared with Police Officers and Sedentary Clerks.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examined the association between the physical work environment and physiological performance measures, physical activity levels and metabolic parameters among German civil servants. A main focus in this study was to examine the group differences rather than measuring the absolute values in an occupational group.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively examined 198 male German civil servants (97 firefighters [FFs], 55 police officers [POs] and 46 sedentary clerks [SCs]). For each parameter, the groups were compared using a linear regression adjusted for age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 97 FFs showed a similar maximal aerobic power (VO2max l/min) of 3.17±0.44 l/min compared with the POs, who had a maximal aerobic power of 3.13±0.62 l/min (estimated difference, POs vs. FFs: 0.05, CI: -0.12-0.23, p=0.553). The maximal aerobic power of the FFs was slightly higher than that of the SCs, who had a maximal aerobic power of 2.85±0.52 l/min (-0.21, CI: -0.39-0.04, p=0.018 vs. FFs). The average physical activity (in metabolic equivalents [METS]/week) of the FFs was 3953±2688, whereas those of the POs was 2838±2872 (vs. FFs: -985, CI: -1941-30, p = 0.043) and of the SCs 2212±2293 (vs. FFs: -1598.8, CI: -2477-721, p = 0.000; vs. POs: -613.6, CI: -1617.4–390.3, p = 0.229), respectively [corrected]. For the FFs, the average body fat percentage was 17.7%±6.2, whereas it was 21.4%±5.6 for the POs (vs. FFs: 2.75, CI: 0.92-4.59, p=0.004) and 20.8%±6.5 for the SCs (vs. FFs: 1.98, CI: -0.28-4.25, p=0.086; vs. POs: -0.77, CI: 3.15-1.61, p=0.523). The average waist circumference was 89.8 cm±10.0 for the FFs, 97.8 cm±12.4 (5.63, CI: 2.10-9.15, p=0.002) for the POs, and 97.3±11.7 (vs. FFs: -4.89, CI: 1.24-8.55, p=0.009; vs. POs: -0.73, CI: -5.21-3.74, p=0.747) for the SCs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The FFs showed significantly higher physical activity levels compared with the SCs. The PO group had the highest cardiovascular risk of all of the groups because it included more participants with metabolic syndrome; furthermore, the POs had an average of 2.75% higher body fat, lower HDL cholesterol values and higher waist circumferences compared with the FFs and higher LDL cholesterol values compared with the SCs. Our data indicate that sedentary occupations appear to be linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, University Witten/Herdecke, Hagen, Germany.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leischik
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, University Witten/Herdecke, Hagen, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Foshag
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, University Witten/Herdecke, Hagen, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strauß
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, University Witten/Herdecke, Hagen, Germany.
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Littwitz
authors.affiliation: University of Leeds, Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM), Leeds, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, University Witten/Herdecke, Hagen, Germany.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dworrak
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, University Witten/Herdecke, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horlitz
mesh_terms: D004734:Energy Metabolism; D061388:Firefighters; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D009043:Motor Activity; D016495:Police; D011446:Prospective Studies; D062486:Public Health Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors