title: Health status and physical fitness of mines rescue brigadesmen.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to assess health status of regular and part-time mines rescue brigadesmen.
  
  
  METHODS
  A group of 685 mines rescue brigadesmen was examined within the preventive testing - a basic internal, biochemistry and anthropometric examination, physical fitness testing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average age of the subjects was 41.96±7.18 years, the average exposure in mining was 20±8.1 years, out of that 11.95±7.85 years as mines rescue brigadesmen. Elevated levels of total serum cholesterol (T-CH) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-CH) were found in over 1/2 of the subjects. Systolic hypertension (systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 140 mm Hg) was confirmed in 34%, overweight (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25) in 62.3% and obesity (BMI ≥ 30) in 20.4% of the examined mines rescue brigadesmen. The metabolic syndrome was found in 15.2% of persons. The highest physical fitness was found in mines rescue brigadesmen and the lowest in mine officers. Limit values of maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max/kg) determined by the management of the mine rescue station were not reached by every 3rd of all mines rescue brigadesmen. Compared with the control group of the Czech and Slovak population, the rescuers are taller, have greater BMI, higher percentage of body fat in all age categories and proportionally to that they achieve a higher maximum minute oxygen uptake; however, in relative values per kg of body weight their physical fitness is practically the same as that of the controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and VO2 max/kg in the group of the mines rescue brigadesmen is comparable with that in the general untrained Czech population.
authors.affiliation: University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic (Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine). hana.tomaskova@osu.cz.
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomaskova
authors.affiliation: University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic (Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine).
authors.forename: Zdenek
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jirak
authors.affiliation: Miners Hospital in Karvina, Karvina, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lvoncik
authors.affiliation: University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic (Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine).
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buzga
authors.affiliation: University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic (Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine).
authors.forename: Vladislava
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zavadilova
authors.affiliation: University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic (Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine).
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trlicova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008906:Mining; D016272:Occupational Health; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D018635:Rescue Work; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: cardiovascular diseases; coal mining; metabolic syndrome; physical fitness