摘要：This study assessed the risk of hospitalization among firefighters. Data were derived from a nationally representative sample of 235 897 employed men from the National Health Interview Survey. Firefighters aged 30 to 39 years were at significantly increased risk for hospitalization relative to other employed men in the same age group (odds ratio = 1.93; 95% confidence interval=1.21, 3.09). Findings from this study and others support the call for longitudinal studies to monitor the health of this high-risk occupational group. The occupational risk of death among firefighters was underscored on September 11, 2001, when 345 members of the New York City Fire Department perished during their response to the World Trade Center attack. 1 However, in the 10 years prior to this event, 75 to 112 annual occupational deaths occurred among professional and volunteer firefighters in the United States. 2 Firefighters are also exposed to risk of communicable diseases, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and thermal and musculoskeletal injury. 3– 7 Moreover, they have been shown to be at increased risk for site-specific cancers. 8 The US Fire Administration has compiled the annual number of firefighter fatalities in the United States for the past 20 years. 9 The US Fire Administration also compiles information on firefighter injuries occurring at approximately one third to one half of all fires in the United States through the National Fire Incident Reporting System. 10 However, to date, there have been no nationally representative studies of hospitalization risk among firefighters. This study examined hospitalization rates in male firefighters and compared them with hospitalization rates in males employed in all other occupations.
