[Assessment of the risk of ischemic heart disease and its relevant factors among Japanese police officers]

Burnout Syndrome and Related Factors in Mexican Police Workforces

Burnout (BO) is a response to prolonged exposure to work-related stressors characterized by emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and reduced personal accomplishment (PA). The police working environment includes continued critical life-threatening situations, violence, and injuries, among other related factors putting them at high risk of distress. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between Burnout Syndrome and sociodemographic, occupational, and health factors in Mexican police officers. We applied the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) to 351 active members of the Mexican police workforce. In addition, a specific questionnaire identified the presence of chronic degenerative diseases, hypertension, diabetes, digestive diseases, self-perception of food quality, and hours of sleep. Furthermore, 23.36% of police workforces presented high levels of burnout; 44.16% of police were highly emotionally exhausted, 49.29% had lost empathy with people, and 41.03% presented low personal achievement. Moreover, the worst levels of the syndrome were present in people with a poor self-perceived health status, poor perception of diet quality, without regular mealtimes, bad sleep habits, and elevated Body Mass Index. Data suggest that in Mexican police officers, BO is dimensionally different from all other groups previously studied (DP > EE > PA).

Sleep problems are a strong predictor of stress-related metabolic changes in police officers. A prospective study

OBJECTIVE

Previous studies have shown that workers chronically exposed to occupational stress have an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and sleep problems (SPs). The purpose of this study was to verify whether SPs mediate the relationship between stress and MetS.

METHOD

A 5-year prospective cohort study included 242 police officers from a rapid response unit engaged exclusively in maintaining law and order. Perceived stress levels were measured repeatedly with the demand-control-support and the effort-reward-imbalance questionnaires; insomnia symptoms were assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; excessive daytime sleepiness was measured using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. MetS and its components were evaluated at baseline and at follow-up.

RESULTS

During 5-year follow-up period, 26 new cases of MetS were identified. Both occupational stress and SPs were significantly related to incident cases of MetS. Insomnia symptoms showed a highly significant association with MetS (aOR 11.038; CI95% 2.867-42.493). Mediation analysis confirmed that SPs mediate the relationship between stress and MetS. A reciprocal relationship was found between job stress and SPs. Work-related stress was a significant predictor of insomnia symptoms, short sleep duration, sleep dissatisfaction, and sleepiness. Compared to the reference group, police officers with SPs at baseline had significantly higher odds of reporting high stress at follow-up.

CONCLUSION

SPs play a mediating role in the relationship between occupational stress and MetS. Prevention of MetS must include the control of stress factors and an increase in the resilience of workers, but correct sleep hygiene is also an essential factor.

Anxiety, depression symptoms, and physical activity levels of eutrophic and excess-weight Brazilian elite police officers: a preliminary study

Background

Police officers are subjected to high work-related stress. This scenario of irregular and insalubrious working conditions may be related to an increase in psychiatric disorders and overweight. In particular, low levels of physical activity and high work stress levels may predispose police officers to obesity, poor lifestyles, and, consequently, major risk of psychological disorders. Thus, our aim was to profile the anxiety/depression symptoms and habitual physical activity (HPA) levels of Brazilian elite police officers classified by body mass index (BMI).

Patients and methods

Eighty-seven male police officers classified as normal-weight (NG, BMI =18.5–24.9 kg/m², n=34) and excess-weight (EG, BMI ≥25 kg/m², n=53) completed (before work routine time) the questionnaires: Baecke (HPA levels), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (anxiety), and Beck Depression Inventory (depression).

Results

There was a slight trend (despite did not reach statistical significance) of the EG group (which have a significantly [P=0.0369] higher mean [8.8±7.6] of military service time [in years] when compared to NG group [5.8±6.0]) presenting higher values of anxiety-trait (+5.0%) and depression (+16.0%) and lower levels of leisure time HPA (–3.7%) than NG group.

Conclusion

Although our hypothesis was not ratified, our findings have clinical relevance because we profiled the anxiety and depression symptoms and HPA levels of elite police officers. Moreover, it is possible to suppose that the military service time (years) is a relevant factor, that it needs to be studied in depth, and that it may impact the predisposition for mood disorders and low levels of physical activity of police officers.

Job stress and behavioral characteristics in relation to coronary heart disease risk among Japanese police officers

This study examined the association between job-related behavioral characteristics and the risk of coronary heart diseases (CHD) in Japanese male police officers. Compared to office clerks, police officers exhibited greater age-related increases of the prevalence of CHD risk factors, and a clustering number of CHD risk factors was significantly higher in the group of those over 45 yr of age. Among the police officers, coronary-prone behavior was more frequent than that seen in office clerks. The police officers with coronary-prone behavior tended to engage in shift work and to work overtime more; yet they were less likely to perceive job stress and to express the relevant physical and psychological symptoms than those without coronary-prone behavior. The subjects with such behavioral characteristics had a significantly greater number of CHD risk factors. In a multiple regression analysis, coronary-prone behavior together with age, social support, walking hours per day, and amount of alcohol consumption were selected as significant determinants of a cluster of CHD risk factors. These results suggest that coronary-prone behavior may contribute to the higher prevalence of CHD risk factors in police officers via leading the long working hours and the work-related unfavorable lifestyles, such as alcohol drinking and physical inactivity.

What are the effects of psychological stress and physical work on blood lipid profiles?

Blood lipids disorders are prevalent in the world. Some of their risk factors are modifiable such as mental and physical stress which existed in some places such as work environment.Objective of this study was to determine the effects of psychological and physical stress on the lipid profiles. It was a historical cohort study. The people who were employed as general worker were participated. The study was conducted with flexible interview for getting history, lipid profile examination, and a checklist including occupational and nonoccupational risk factors and using the health issues. According to the type of stress exposures, the study population was divided into 5 groups. Groups were followed for lipid profiles. These groups were exposed to psychological stress, physical stress or both of them; mild psychological stress (group 1), mild physical work without psychological stress (group 2), mild psychological stress and mild physical work (group 3), moderate physical work without psychological stress (group 4), and heavy physical work without psychological stress (group 5). Data were analyzed with SPSS 16. ANOVA, χ, and exact test were calculated with considering P < .05 as significant level. Relative risks were calculated with confidence interval 95%. The means of lipid profiles were in normal ranges. The relative risks for triglycerides more than 200 mg/dL was 1.57 (1.02-2.42) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) more than 130 mg/dL was 14.54 (3.54-59.65) in group 1. The relative risks for high density lipoprotein (HDL) less than 45 mg/dL was 14.61 (8.31-25.68) in group 1 and 16.00 (8.30-30.83) in group 3. After multinomial logistic regression they had significant differences. Psychological stress was a risk factor for lipid disorders, and suitable physical activity was protective in this situation.