Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is Not Associated with Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Firefighters: A Cross-Sectional Study in South African Firefighters

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are frequently reported among firefighters, yet no studies have compared these factors between male and female firefighters, specifically from a low- to middle-income country (LMIC). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of CVD risk factors and their relationship with cardiorespiratory fitness (VO_2max) in 254 active career firefighters (mean age: 42.6 ± 7.8 years). The assessments included anthropometry, blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, and VO_2max. The results indicated that 48.0% and 51.8% of females and males were pre-hypertensive, respectively. Hypertension was identified in 15.8% of the firefighters. According to body mass index (BMI), 37.3% of males and 25% of females were found to be overweight, while an additional 44.9% of males and 45.7% of females were classified as obese. Only 17.3% of males and 18.2% of females were found to be of normal weight. These findings were corroborated by categories of central obesity using waist circumference (WC), which were 47.7% for males and 41.6% for females. Low HDL-C was found in 95.2% of males and 86.4% of females, with 28.3% of males also having elevated triglyceride levels (TG). VO_2max was "excellent" in 48.8% of males and 12.6% of females, though it had no significant association with most CVD risk factors. The only notable link was a small correlation between VO_2max and triglycerides (r = -0.215; <i>p</i> = 0.001). These findings suggest that while cardiorespiratory fitness may have no impact, additional factors likely contribute to the cardiovascular health of firefighters, necessitating the need for comprehensive health and fitness programmes.