Extreme sacrifice: sudden cardiac death in the US Fire Service

Table 1 Relative risk of cardiovascular outcome by risk factor in firefighters

	On-duty CHD fatalities	Non-CHD cardiovascular retirements	CHD retirements
	OR (95% CI)[19]	OR (95% CI)[18]	OR (95% CI)[18]
Current smoking	8.6 (4.2–17)	2.5 (1.2–5.1)	3.9 (2.5–6.2)
Hypertension	12 (5.8–25)	11 (6.1–20)	5.4 (3.7–7.9)
Obesity, BMI ≥ 30 kg·m⁻²	3.1 (1.5–6.6)	3.6 (2.0–6.4)	1.4 (0.96–1.93)
Cholesterol ≥ 5.18 mmol·l⁻¹ (200 mg·dl⁻¹)	4.4 (1.5–13)	1.1 (0.51–2.24)	2.4 (1.6–3.6)
Diabetes mellitus	10.2 (3.7–28)	7.7 (2.9–20)	13 (6.1–28)
Prior diagnosis of CHD	35 (9.5–128)	NA	30 (9.1–96)
Age ≥ 45 years old	18 (8.5–40)	26 (13–51)	63 (35–111)

Hypertension is defined as resting blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg, previous diagnosis of hypertension, or receiving antihypertensive therapy. Diabetes mellitus is defined as random blood glucose > 8.3 mmol·l⁻¹ (150 mg·dl⁻¹), previous diagnosis, or receiving insulin or hypoglycemic medication. CHD, coronary heart disease; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; BMI, body mass index.

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