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Cited by 85Occupational Health and PerformanceSex and Gender in HealthcareOccupational Health and Safety in Workplaces

The health of women in the US fire service

Open access
Jahnke, Sara A, Poston, WS Carlos, Haddock, C Keith, Jitnarin, Nattinee, Hyder, Melissa L, Horvath, Cheryl·2012·BMC Women's Health
DOI 10.1186/1472-6874-12-39PMC PMC3534365
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Despite statements from national fire service organizations, including the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), promoting a diverse work force related to gender within the fire service, rates of women firefighters remain very low. Thus, research into why this extensive gender disparity continues is a high priority. Recent years have seen a number of large scale studies on firefighter health and health risk behaviors however, none have focused on the health of women firefighters and nearly all have eliminated women from the sample due to small sample size. Data from the present report is drawn from all females in a large, randomly selected cohort of firefighters in an epidemiological study designed to assess health outcomes and health risk behaviors identified as most important to the fire service. METHODS: Data reported for the present study were collected as baseline data for the Firefighter Injury and Risk Evaluation (FIRE) Study, a longitudinal cohort study examining risk factors for injury in both career and volunteer firefighters in the IAFC Missouri Valley Region. Of the departments assessed, only 8 career and 6 volunteer departments had any women firefighters. All the women solicited for participation chose to enroll in the study. The number of women ranged from 1 to 7 in career departments and 1 to 6 in volunteer departments. RESULTS: Where possible, comparisons are made between female firefighters and published data on male firefighters as well as comparisons between female firefighters and military members. Compared to male firefighters, females had more favorable body composition among both career and volunteer firefighters. Tobacco use rates were generally higher among females than males and rates among female firefighters were similar to the rates of female military members. While rates of alcohol use were higher than the general population, only one of the participants evidenced responses in the range of concern on the CAGE screening. CONCLUSIONS: In general, the findings offer an interesting glimpse of the health of women in the fire service as a generally healthy occupational workforce with some unique health risk behavior challenges. They also highlight some of the similarities and differences between male and female firefighters and bolster the argument for studying female firefighters as a unique occupational sub-population.

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  • Female firefighters experience a significant increase in substance abuse behavior.

    “they also experience a significant increase in substance abuse behavior [91].”

    From The Cyclical Battle of Insomnia and Mental Health Impairment in Firefighters: A Narrative Review (2024) · cites this paper as [91]

    The Results and discussion (Substance use) report high rates of alcohol use and binge drinking among female career firefighters, and the Abstract (Results) says alcohol use was higher than in the general population. The paper does not report an increase over time or establish a significant increase in substance abuse; it notes that no career firefighters scored in the range of concern on the CAGE screening. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Female firefighters account for roughly 5% of the firefighter population.

    “Even though female firefighters only account for roughly 5% of the firefighter population”

    From The Cyclical Battle of Insomnia and Mental Health Impairment in Firefighters: A Narrative Review (2024) · cites this paper as [91]

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1 of the 45 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Evanoff BA Rosenstock L Reproductive hazards in the workplace: a case study of women firefighters Amer J Indust Med 1986 9 503 515 10.1002/ajim.4700090602 3740071 · DOI
  2. Poston WSC Haddock CK Jahnke SA Jitnarin N Tuley BC Kales SN The prevalence of overweight, obesity, and substandard fitness in a population-based firefighter cohort J Occup Environ Med 2011 53 266 273 10.1097/JOM.0b013e31820af362 21386691 PMC5826653 · DOI
  3. Donovan R Nelson T Peel J Lipsey T Voyles W Israel RG Cardiorespiratory fitness and the metabolic syndrome in firefighters Occup Med (Lond) 2009 59 487 492 10.1093/occmed/kqp095 19578075 · DOI
  4. Pyle SA Graham R Suminski RR Poston WSC Haddock CK Glaros A Depressive symptoms, self rated mental health, functioning and job satisfaction among firefighters Int Fire Serv J Leadership and Management (in press)
  5. Murphy SA Beaton RD Pike KC Johnson LC Occupational stressors, stress responses, and alcohol consumption among professional firefighters: a prospective, longitudinal analysis Int J Stress Manage 1999 6 179 196 10.1023/A:1021934725246 · DOI

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Authors
Jahnke, S. A., Poston, W. C., Haddock, C. K., Jitnarin, N., Hyder, M. L., & Horvath, C.
Affiliations
National Development and Research Institutes (US)
Corresponding author
Jahnke, Sara A
ORCID
Venue
BMC Women's Health
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2012-10-31
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
39-39
ISSN
1472-6874 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1472-6874-12-39
PMC
PMC3534365
OpenAlex
W2039023064
Cited by
85
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 6
FWCI
11.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Women s Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Performance
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Sex and Gender in Healthcare
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Safety in Workplaces
Keywords
women firefighters, firefighter health, health risk behaviors, body composition, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, CAGE screening, career firefighters, volunteer firefighters, occupational health
MeSH terms
Adult, Alcohol Drinking, Anxiety Disorders, Female, Health Status, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Occupational Diseases, Risk Factors, Smoking, United States, Volunteers, Cohort Studies, Health Behavior, Occupational Health, Young Adult, Firefighters

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