Stec, AA;
Robinson, A;
Wolffe, TAM;
Bagkeris, E;
(2023)
Scottish Firefighters Occupational Cancer and Disease Mortality Rates: 2000-2020.
Occupational Medicine
, Article kqac138. 10.1093/occmed/kqac138.
(In press).
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Increased mortality from cancers and other diseases has been reported in USA, Canadian, and Nordic firefighters. However, UK firefighters are understudied. AIMS: To determine whether UK firefighters suffer increased mortality from cancers and other diseases when compared with the general population. METHODS: Mortality from cancer and other diseases in Scottish male firefighters between 2000 and 2020 was compared with the general Scottish male population and expressed as standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) (with 95% confidence intervals, CI). RESULTS: Significant overall excess cancer mortality was found for Scottish firefighters compared with the general population (SMR 1.61, CI 1.42-1.81). Scottish firefighters were nearly three times more likely to die of malignant neoplasms (unspecified sites) (SMR 2.71, CI 1.71-4.00). Excess cancer mortality was also found for several site-specific cancers, including prostate (SMR 3.80, CI 2.56-5.29), myeloid leukaemia (SMR 3.17, CI 1.44-5.58), oesophagus (SMR 2.42, CI 1.69-3.29) and urinary system (kidney and bladder) (SMR 1.94, CI 1.16-2.91). Mortality from neoplasms of unknown behaviour was over six times greater in Scottish firefighters (SMR 6.37, CI 2.29-12.49). Additionally, significantly higher mortality was found for: acute ischaemic heart diseases (SMR 5.27, CI 1.90-10.33), stroke (SMR 2.69, CI 1.46-4.28), interstitial pulmonary diseases (SMR 3.04, CI 1.45-5.22), renal failure (SMR 3.28, CI 1.18-6.44) and musculoskeletal system diseases (SMR 5.64, CI 1.06-13.83). CONCLUSIONS: UK firefighters suffer significant excess mortality from cancer and other diseases when compared with the general population. Preventative health monitoring and presumptive legislation are urgently required to protect UK firefighters' health.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Scottish Firefighters Occupational Cancer and Disease Mortality Rates: 2000-2020 |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1093/occmed/kqac138 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqac138 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10163315 |
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