Prevalence of coronary artery disease risk factors among male fire-fighters in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and on-duty mortality among fire-fighters. This study investigated the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors among firefighters in Cape Town, South Africa.A quantitative, cross-sectional and correlational study design was used. A convenient sample of 219 male fire-fighters with mean age 37.85±9.80 years was recruited. Eight major CAD risk factors were assessed using standard techniques. SPSS (ver. 23) was used with the Pearson correlation and Kruskall-Wallis H test with the MannWhitney test post hoc and a Bonferroni correction. The significance level set at p<0.05.