Do police officers and firefighters have a higher risk of disease than other public officers? A 13-year nationwide cohort study in South Korea

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The work of public officers involves repeated and long-term exposure to heavy workloads ; high job strain and workplace violence ; all of which negatively impact physical and mental health. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the incidences of diseases among different categories of public officers in Korea ; in order to further understand the health risks associated with these occupations.

DESIGN: A cohort study using the National Health Insurance data.

PARTICIPANTS: We collated claims data between 2002 and 2014 for 860 221 public officers.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Age-standardised rates were calculated using the direct standardisation method ; and HRs were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard regression models.

RESULTS: Overall ; we found that police officers and firefighters had a higher incidence of a range of diseases when compared with national and regional government officers (NRG). The most prominent HRs were observed among police officers for angina pectoris (HR: 1.52 ; 95% CI 1.49 to 1.54) ; acute myocardial infarction (HR: 1.84 ; 95% CI 1.77 to 1.92) and cerebrovascular disease (HR: 1.36 ; 95% CI 1.31 to 1.40). Firefighters were more susceptible to physical ailments and were at a significantly higher risk for traumatic stress disorders (HR: 1.40 ; 95% CI 1.26 to 1.56) than NRGs.

CONCLUSION: Compared withNRGs ; police officers had higher HRs for all measured diseases ; except for traumatic stress disorders. While firefighters had higher HRs for almost all diseases examined ; public education officers had a higher HR for traumatic stress disorders ; when compared with NRGs.