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Cited by 53Occupational Health and PerformanceHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlPhysical Activity and Health

Firefighters’ occupational stress and its correlations with cardiorespiratory fitness, arterial stiffness, heart rate variability, and sleep quality

Open access
Yook, Young-Sook·2019·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0226739PMC PMC6927634
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Abstract

This study investigated the correlations between firefighters' occupational stress and cardiorespiratory fitness, arterial stiffness, heart rate variability, and sleep quality. We examined 705 male firefighters aged 40-50 years in Seoul City, Korea from November 2016-December 2017. The Occupational stress scale was used to evaluate occupational stress; an exercise stress test was administered to measure participants' maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max); brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was used to measure firefighters' arterial stiffness; their autonomic nervous system activities were analyzed to determine heart rate variability (HRR); and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to assess their sleep quality. We divided the sample population into tertile groups per their occupational stress scores; i.e., low-stress group (n = 233), medium-stress group (n = 237), and high-stress group (n = 235). They were compared per each indicator and correlations were examined. There was a significant difference in VO2max (p < .01), and arterial stiffness (p < .001) according to occupational stress levels. Occupational stress was significantly correlated with cardiorespiratory fitness (r = -.820, p < .05), arterial stiffness (r = .085, p < .05), and sleep quality (r = .276, p < .001), but not HRR. In conclusion, Firefighters' occupational stress is a key factor behind their elevated risk of cardiovascular diseases; therefore, we recommend programs aimed at reducing their occupational stress and preventing cardiovascular diseases.

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  • In the same study of 705 male firefighters, those in the medium stress group reported significantly worse outcomes in subjective sleep quality, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunction relative to the low stress group.

    “Further, firefighters in the medium stress group reported significantly worse outcomes in subjective sleep quality, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunction relative to the low stress group [56].”

    From The Cyclical Battle of Insomnia and Mental Health Impairment in Firefighters: A Narrative Review (2024) · cites this paper as [56]

    In the Results (Table 2; page unavailable), the medium-stress group had significantly worse subjective sleep-quality scores than the low-stress group (post-hoc a < b < c). The Results also report differences in sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction across stress levels, but the available passage does not establish that the medium group differed significantly from the low group on those two measures. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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  • In a study of 705 male firefighters, those in the high occupational stress group experienced significantly worse outcomes in subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction relative to both low and medium stress groups.

    “Firefighters in the high stress group experienced significantly worse outcomes in subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, the use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction relative to both low and medium stress groups.”

    From The Cyclical Battle of Insomnia and Mental Health Impairment in Firefighters: A Narrative Review (2024) · cites this paper as [56]

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Authors
Yook, Y.-S.
Affiliations
Sungshin Women's University (KR)
Corresponding author
Yook, Young-Sook
ORCID
Yook, Young-Sook
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2019-12-23
Volume
14
Issue
12
Pages
e0226739
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0226739
PMC
PMC6927634
OpenAlex
W2995588863
Cited by
51
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 2
FWCI
10.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (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
Sungshin University (2017)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Performance
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
Keywords
occupational stress, firefighters, cardiorespiratory fitness, arterial stiffness, heart rate variability, sleep quality, cardiovascular risk, VO2max, autonomic nervous system, occupational health
MeSH terms
Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Occupational Stress, Adult, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Sleep, Vascular Stiffness, Firefighters, Seoul

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