title: Police work stressors and cardiac vagal control.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examines relationships between the frequency and intensity of police work stressors and cardiac vagal control, estimated using the high frequency component of heart rate variability (HRV).
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional study of 360 officers from the Buffalo New York Police Department. Police stress was measured using the Spielberger police stress survey, which includes exposure indices created as the product of the self-evaluation of how stressful certain events were and the self-reported frequency with which they occurred. Vagal control was estimated using the high frequency component of resting HRV calculated in units of milliseconds squared and reported in natural log scale. Associations between police work stressors and vagal control were examined using linear regression for significance testing and analysis of covariance for descriptive purposes, stratified by gender, and adjusted for age and race/ethnicity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant associations between police work stressor exposure indices and vagal control among men. Among women, the inverse associations between the lack of support stressor exposure and vagal control were statistically significant in adjusted models for indices of exposure over the past year (lowest stressor quartile: M = 5.57, 95% CI 5.07 to 6.08, and highest stressor quartile: M = 5.02, 95% CI 4.54 to 5.51, test of association from continuous linear regression of vagal control on lack of support stressor β = -0.273, P = .04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supports an inverse association between lack of organizational support and vagal control among female but not male police officers.
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8191-3642
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Andrew
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, State University of New York at Buffalo, New York.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Violanti
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Ja K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Desta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fekedulegn
authors.affiliation: Anthem Inc., Department of Provider Analytics, Indianapolis, Indiana.
authors.forename: Shengqiao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Tara A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Hartley
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Luenda E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mnatsakanova
authors.affiliation: Toxicology and Molecular Biology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Diane B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia.
authors.forename: Cecil M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Burchfiel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002947:Cities; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York; D000073397:Occupational Stress / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016495:Police; D015995:Prevalence