TY - JOUR
T1 - Firefighter occupational factors and the risk of preterm birth
T2 - Results from a survey of women firefighters in the USA
AU - Jung, Alesia M.
AU - Jahnke, Sara A.
AU - Dennis, Leslie K.
AU - Bell, Melanie L.
AU - Burgess, Jefferey L.
AU - Farland, Leslie V.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by research grants awarded by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to NDRI-USA (EMW-2015-FP00848) and the University of Arizona (EMW-2019-FP-00526) as well as research grants awarded by the US National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences to the University of Arizona (T32 ES007091, P30 ES006694).
Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/12/23
Y1 - 2022/12/23
N2 - Objectives Previous research has suggested that women firefighters may have a greater risk of adverse reproductive outcomes compared with non-firefighting women. In this study, we investigated the association between firefighter occupational factors and risk of preterm birth. Methods This cross-sectional analysis of US firefighters surveyed in 2017 compared preterm birth among firefighters to non-firefighters using age-at-pregnancy-standardised prevalence ratios. Generalised estimating equations estimated relative risks and 95% CIs between firefighter occupational factors (career or volunteer, wildland status, shift schedule, fire responses, work restriction) and preterm birth risk. We adjusted for age-at-pregnancy, education, gravidity, BMI, and smoking and considered effect modification by age-at-pregnancy and career versus volunteer status. Results Among 934 women who reported 1356 live births, 12% were preterm (n=161). Preterm birth prevalence among firefighters was 1.41 times greater than non-firefighters (95% CI 1.18 to 1.68). Among wildland and combination wildland/structural firefighters, volunteers had 2.82 times the risk of preterm birth (95% CI 1.19 to 6.67) compared with career firefighters. Firefighters who started restricting their work in the 2nd trimester had a nonsignificant 0.67 times lower risk of preterm birth than those who started in the 3rd trimester or did not restrict work at all (95% CI 0.43 to 1.03). Conclusions Firefighters may have greater risk of preterm birth than non-firefighters, which could be influenced by roles in the fire service and work restrictions taken.
AB - Objectives Previous research has suggested that women firefighters may have a greater risk of adverse reproductive outcomes compared with non-firefighting women. In this study, we investigated the association between firefighter occupational factors and risk of preterm birth. Methods This cross-sectional analysis of US firefighters surveyed in 2017 compared preterm birth among firefighters to non-firefighters using age-at-pregnancy-standardised prevalence ratios. Generalised estimating equations estimated relative risks and 95% CIs between firefighter occupational factors (career or volunteer, wildland status, shift schedule, fire responses, work restriction) and preterm birth risk. We adjusted for age-at-pregnancy, education, gravidity, BMI, and smoking and considered effect modification by age-at-pregnancy and career versus volunteer status. Results Among 934 women who reported 1356 live births, 12% were preterm (n=161). Preterm birth prevalence among firefighters was 1.41 times greater than non-firefighters (95% CI 1.18 to 1.68). Among wildland and combination wildland/structural firefighters, volunteers had 2.82 times the risk of preterm birth (95% CI 1.19 to 6.67) compared with career firefighters. Firefighters who started restricting their work in the 2nd trimester had a nonsignificant 0.67 times lower risk of preterm birth than those who started in the 3rd trimester or did not restrict work at all (95% CI 0.43 to 1.03). Conclusions Firefighters may have greater risk of preterm birth than non-firefighters, which could be influenced by roles in the fire service and work restrictions taken.
KW - Firefighters
KW - Occupational Health
KW - Pregnancy Outcome
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U2 - 10.1136/oemed-2022-108332
DO - 10.1136/oemed-2022-108332
M3 - Article
C2 - 36564180
AN - SCOPUS:85146532148
SN - 1351-0711
VL - 80
SP - 77
EP - 85
JO - Occupational and environmental medicine
JF - Occupational and environmental medicine
IS - 2
ER -