Smoking and occupational stressors in firefighters,
          2011

Cross sectional study of 711 firefighters in Belo Horizonte, MG, Southeastern Brazil, in 2011. The data were obtained using a self-applied structured questionnaire, which included sociodemographic characteristics, occupational stressors, health status and adverse life events. Smoking was analyzed as a dichotomous variable (multiple logistic regression).

RESULTS

The prevalence of smoking among firefighters was 7.6%. Currently smoking status was associated with low levels of schooling, a monthly income in the middle band, the existence of psychiatric problems in the past, high exposure to traumatic events in life, social discrimination, occupational stressors and low demand at work.

CONCLUSIONS

The low prevalence of smoking indicates the relevance of employment conditions in explaining harmful habits and health. Organizational and operational stressors contribute independently to explaining current smoking status in the population studied.

Firefighters; Smoking; Working Conditions; Job Satisfaction; Cross-Sectional Studies

Correspondence
: Eduardo de Paula Lima - Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - Av. Alfredo Balena, 190 sala 705 - 30310-100 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil - E-mail: edpl@hotmail.com

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

This study was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), PhD grant (Process no. 202176/2011-8) to Lima E.P.

SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Departamento de Medicina Preventiva e Social . Faculdade de Medicina . Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrasilBelo Horizonte, MG, Brasil Departamento de Medicina Preventiva e Social . Faculdade de Medicina . Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil

Tables

Tables (4)

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Table 1
. Sociodemographic characteristics and life habits of firefighters in Belo Horizonte, MG, Southeastern Brazil, 2011.

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Table 2
. Information on employment and occupational stressors in firefighters in Belo Horizonte, MG, Southeastern Brazil, 2011.

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Table 3
. Health status and exposure to adverse life events in firefighters in Belo Horizonte, MG, Southeastern Brazil, 2011.

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Table 4
. Multiple logistic regression for smoking as a dependent variable. Firefighters in Belo Horizonte, MG, Southeastern Brazil, 2011.

Table 1 . Sociodemographic characteristics and life habits of firefighters in Belo Horizonte, MG, Southeastern Brazil, 2011.

Variables	Smokers		Non smokers		OR	95%CI

	n	%	n	%

Age (years)
18 to 29	32	6.3	479	93.7	–	–
30 to 50	22	11.1	176	89.9	1.87	1.06;3.31 ^b
Schooling
Primary education	10	18.5	44	81.5	–	–
High school education	28	6.0	440	94.0	0.28	0.13;0.61 ^b
College/Post-graduate	15	8.0	172	92.0	0.38	0.16;0.91 ^b
Marital status
Married/Serious relationship	33	8.4	361	91.6	–	–
Single	20	7.0	264	93.0	0.83	0.47;1.48
Separate/Divorced	1	3.0	32	97.0	0.34	0.45;2.58
Children
No	19	5.7	314	94.3	–	–
Yes	35	9.3	342	90.7	1.69	0.95;3.02 ^a
Ethnicity/Skin color
White	18	8.3	198	91.7	–	–
Mixed ethnicity	25	6.8	342	93.2	0.80	0.43;1.51
Black	9	9.3	88	90.7	1.13	0.49;2.60
Asiatic/Indian	2	7.1	26	92.9	0.85	0.19;3.86
Income (R$)
≤ 2,500.00	15	8.8	155	91.2	–	–
2,501.00 to 4,000.00	22	7.4	274	92.6	0.83	0.42;1.64
4,001.00 to 5,500.00	4	3.0	128	97.0	0.32	0.10;0.90 ^b
5,501.00 to 7,000.00	11	17.7	51	82.3	2.23	0.96;5.16 ^a
> 7,000.00	2	3.9	49	96.1	0.42	0.09;1.91
Social activities
Yes	51	7.9	597	92.1	–	–
No	2	5.3	36	94.7	0.65	0.15;2.78

^a Variable associated with smoking in univariate analysis (p ≤ 0.20)

^b Variable associated with smoking in univariate analysis (p ≤ 0.05)

Table 2 . Information on employment and occupational stressors in firefighters in Belo Horizonte, MG, Southeastern Brazil, 2011.

Variable	Smokers		Non smokers		OR	95%CI

	n	%	n	%

Job Content Questionnaire
Low demand	48	8.5	519	91.5	–	–
High demand	6	4.4	129	95.6	0.88	0.43;1.79 ^a
High control	42	7.6	509	92.4	–	–
Low control	10	6.8	138	93.2	0.88	0.43;1.79
High social support	43	8.2	479	91.8	–	–
Low social support	11	6.0	173	94.0	0.71	0.36;1.40
Operational stressors
Low exposure	32	6.1	493	93.9	–	–
High exposure	20	12.4	141	87.6	2.18	1.21;3.94 ^b
Time in service (years)
1 to 2	13	5.2	238	94.8	–	–
3 to 15	15	7.8	178	92.2	1.54	0.72;3.32
16 to 30	26	9.7	241	90.3	1.98	0.99;3.94 ^a
Poor working conditions
0	8	9.9	73	90.1	–	–
1	20	7.4	249	92.6	0.73	0.31;1.73
2	18	6.6	256	93.4	0.64	0.27;1.54
3 or more	8	9.8	74	90.2	0.99	0.35;2.77

^a Variable associated with smoking in univariate analysis (p ≤ 0.20)

^b Variable associated with smoking in univariate analysis (p ≤ 0.05)

Table 3 . Health status and exposure to adverse life events in firefighters in Belo Horizonte, MG, Southeastern Brazil, 2011.

Variable	Smoker		Non smoker		OR	95%CI

	n	%	n	%

Problems with alcohol (CAGE) ^a
No	43	6.7	597	93.3	–	–
Yes	11	16.2	57	83.8	1.94	1.50;2.50 ^c
Chronic disease (number)
0	40	7.2	515	92.8	–	–
1 or more	14	9.7	131	90.3	1.38	0.73;2.60
Mental disorders in the past
No	34	5.8	552	94.2	–	–
Yes	30	17.2	96	82.8	3.38	1.87;6.12 ^c
Absenteeism
No	23	5.9	367	94.1	–	–
Yes	31	10.1	276	89.9	1.79	1.02;3.14 ^c
Physical activity (times/week)
≥ 3	15	4.7	303	95.3	–	–
1 or 2	35	9.9	319	90.1	2.22	1.19;4.14 ^c
None	4	12.1	29	87.9	2.79	0.87;8.95 ^b
Adverse life events
0	12	4.2	273	95.8	–	–
1	18	7.4	227	92.7	1.80	0.85;3.82 ^b
2 or more	23	13.2	151	87.8	3.46	1.68;7.16 ^c
Traumatic life events
0	39	6.4	567	93.6	–	–
1	7	9.6	66	90.4	1.54	0.66;3.59
2 or more	8	27.6	21	72.4	5.54	2.31;13.31 ^c
Social discrimination
0	31	5.9	496	94.1	–	–
1	17	14.2	103	85.8	2.64	1.41;4.95 ^c
2 or more	6	11.1	48	88.9	2.00	0.79;5.03 ^b

CAGE: Cut Down, Annoyed, Guilty, and Eye-opener

^a Questionnaire measured using CAGE scale 16

^b Variable associated with smoking in univariate analysis (p ≤ 0.20)

^c Variable associated with smoking in univariate analysis (p ≤ 0.05)

Table 4 . Multiple logistic regression for smoking as a dependent variable. Firefighters in Belo Horizonte, MG, Southeastern Brazil, 2011.

Variable	OR	95%CI

Sociodemographic
Schooling
Primary education	–	–
High school education	0.30	0.12;0.72 ^b
Further/Post-graduate	0.36	0.13;0.99 ^a
Income (R$)
≤ 2,500.00	–	–
2,501.00 to 4,000.00	0.69	0.32;1.52
4,001.00 to 5,500.00	0.34	0.10;1.14
5,501.00 to 7,000.00	2.94	1.15;7.50 ^a
> 7,000.00	0.62	0.12;3.09
Occupational stressors
Operational stressors (PDS)
Low exposure	–	–
High exposure	2.04	1.05;3.96 ^a
Psychosocial factors (JCQ)
Low demand	–	–
High demand	0.33	0.12;0.88 ^a
Health
Mental disorders in the past
No	–	–
Yes	3.90	1.47;5.72 ^b
Adverse life events
0	–	–
1	1.16	0.46;2.97
2 or more	4.74	1.70;13.25 ^b
Social discrimination
0	–	–
1	2.87	1.42;5.81 ^b
2 or more	1.33	0.41;4.34

^a Variable associated with smoking in univariate analysis (p ≤ 0.05)

^b Variable associated with smoking in univariate analysis (p ≤ 0.01)

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Smoking and occupational stressors in firefighters, 2011

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Mensagem

[1] Correspondence
: Eduardo de Paula Lima - Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - Av. Alfredo Balena, 190 sala 705 - 30310-100 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil - E-mail: edpl@hotmail.com