Coronary Artery Calcium Scores in Public Safety Personnel
Abstract
Background: Occupational research has demonstrated that public safety personnel are prone to death by adverse cardiovascular events that are precipitated by on-the-job physiological stressors; the presence of occult coronary artery disease further increases this risk. It has been reported in literature that there is interest from public safety personnel in screening programs that could lead to counseling for possible lifestyle modifications to promote cardiovascular wellness. Objective: At present, there are limited guidelines to screen for occult coronary artery disease among public safety personnel, which include firefighters, police officers, and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) workers. The goal of this study is to visualize the distribution of Coronary Artery Calcium Scores (CACS) among participants in Northeast Indiana who are employed as public safety personnel, through both global analysis, among the three classes, and local analysis, within each specific class. Methods: In this retrospective review, the CACS of 1049 participating public safety personnel across Northeast Indiana were analyzed to understand the overall distributions in CACS for the region. The screenings in the study were conducted between 2013 and 2018. Results: In comparison to the general population, there was a larger proportion of public safety personnel with a CACS = 0. It was found that there were no statistically significant differences in the CACS among the three classes, firefighters, police officers, and EMS workers (p > 0.05). Moreover, there were no statistically significant differences in the CACS among the different departments within a particular class (p>0.05). Conclusion: In determining a demographic baseline of CACS among public safety personnel, this study demonstrate a promising role, in the near future, for Coronary Artery Calcium Screening as a standard prevention measure for public safety departments across the nation.