OBJECTIVE: "Heart Presumption" legislation is common throughout North America. We sought to study Massachusetts firefighters retiring with heart disability awards. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective review of Massachusetts firefighters: 362 receiving Heart Presumption pensions (1997-2004) and a comparison group of 310 professionally active firefighters. RESULTS: Of retirements, 77% were due to coronary heart disease and 23% for other cardiovascular conditions. Only 42% of the retirements were related to discrete on-duty events. Fire suppression (odds ratio = 51, 95% confidence interval = 12-223) and alarm response (odds ratio = 6.4, 95% confidence interval = 2.5-17) were associated with markedly higher risks of duty-related heart retirement events than nonemergency activities. Cardiovascular risk factor prevalence was high among all retiree subgroups and significantly greater than among control firefighters in almost all cases. CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports calls for improved cardiovascular prevention and risk reduction strategies among firefighters.
OBJECTIVE: "Heart Presumption" legislation is common throughout North America. We sought to study Massachusetts firefighters retiring with heart disability awards. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective review of Massachusetts firefighters: 362 receiving Heart Presumption pensions (1997-2004) and a comparison group of 310 professionally active firefighters. RESULTS: Of retirements, 77% were due to coronary heart disease and 23% for other cardiovascular conditions. Only 42% of the retirements were related to discrete on-duty events. Fire suppression (odds ratio = 51, 95% confidence interval = 12-223) and alarm response (odds ratio = 6.4, 95% confidence interval = 2.5-17) were associated with markedly higher risks of duty-related heart retirement events than nonemergency activities. Cardiovascular risk factor prevalence was high among all retiree subgroups and significantly greater than among control firefighters in almost all cases. CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports calls for improved cardiovascular prevention and risk reduction strategies among firefighters.
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