Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

LIVE: Thursday 2nd May 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)

Quality sleep is essential for health. But what happens to our brains when sleep patterns are disturbed? Join our experts to explore the interplay between sleep disruption and neurological diseases, and the questions that you need to be asking your patients to help you prevent the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome
Published in: Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research

Occupation and metabolic syndrome: is there correlation? A cross sectional study in different work activity occupations of German firefighters and office workers

Authors: Markus Strauß, Peter Foshag, Bianca Przybylek, Marc Horlitz, Alejandro Lucia, Fabian Sanchis-Gomar, Roman Leischik

Published in: Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome | Issue 1/2016

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

The treatment and prevention of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is currently one of the major challenges in medicine. The impact of working conditions on metabolic risk has not been adequately studied. Our objective was to compare the prevalence of MetS and metabolic risk in two extremely different occupational groups: firefighters and office workers.

Methods

A total of 143 male subjects (97 firefighters and 46 office workers) from Germany participated in the study. Anthropometric characteristics, metabolic risk parameters as well as laboratory parameters were collected. MetS was diagnosed according to criteria of the International Diabetes Federation.

Results

Sedentary occupation showed a significant tendency towards obesity. Abdominal waist circumference was significantly greater in office workers than in firefighters [5.08 CI (1.44–8.71), p = 0.007]. Concerning metabolic risk factors, abnormal HDL, triglycerides, BMI, blood pressure and waist circumference values were more frequently found in office workers than in firefighters. The MetS was detected in almost 33 % of office workers as compared with only 14 % in firefighters (p = 0.015). Regarding MetS in an international comparison, the prevalence of MetS in German office workers was high and in firefighters it was extremely low.

Conclusions

Sedentary occupation as an office worker is associated with a high risk of MetS. Both groups need to be made aware of the metabolic risks, and health promoting concepts such as corporate sports activities or education in healthy nutrition need to be implemented to counteract the development of the MetS and cardiovascular risk factors.
Literature
1.
Ford ES, Giles WH, Mokdad AH. Increasing prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among US Adults. Diab Care. 2004;27:2444–9.CrossRef
2.
3.
4.
Bonora E, Kiechl S, Willeit J, Oberhollenzer F, Egger G, Bonadonna RC, Muggeo M. Carotid atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease in the metabolic syndrome: prospective data from the Bruneck study. Diab Care. 2003;26:1251–7.CrossRef
5.
Isomaa B, Almgren P, Tuomi T, Forsen B, Lahti K, Nissen M, Taskinen MR, Groop L. Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with the metabolic syndrome. Diab Care. 2001;24:683–9.CrossRef
6.
Lakka HM, Laaksonen DE, Lakka TA, Niskanen LK, Kumpusalo E, Tuomilehto J, Salonen JT. The metabolic syndrome and total and cardiovascular disease mortality in middle-aged men. JAMA. 2002;288:2709–16.CrossRefPubMed
7.
King H, Aubert RE, Herman WH. Global burden of diabetes, 1995–2025: prevalence, numerical estimates, and projections. Diab Care. 1998;21:1414–31.CrossRef
8.
Leischik R, Dworrak B, Strauss M, Przybylek B, Dworrak T, Schöne D, Horlitz M, Mügge A. Plasticity of health. Ger J Med. 2016;1:1–17.
9.
WHO. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic Report of a WHO consultation. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 2000;894(1–12):1–253.
10.
Müller M, Reinehr T, Hebebrand J. Prävention und Therapie von Übergewicht im Kindes- und Jugendalter. Deutsches Ärzteblatt. 2006;103:334–40.
11.
Williford HN, Duey WJ, Olson MS, Howard R, Wang N. Relationship between fire fighting suppression tasks and physical fitness. Ergonomics. 1999;42:1179–86.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Barnard RJ, Gardner GW, Diaco NV. “Ischemic” heart disease in fire fighters with normal coronary arteries. J Occup Med. 1976;18:818–20.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Drew-Nord DC, Hong O, Froelicher ES. Cardiovascular risk factors among career firefighters. Aaohn J. 2009;57:415–22 (quiz 423).CrossRefPubMed
14.
Kales SN, Soteriades ES, Christophi CA, Christiani DC. Emergency duties and deaths from heart disease among firefighters in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2007;356:1207–15.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Strauß M, Karutz H, Foshag P, Spelsberg N, Dworrak B, Horlitz M, Leischik R. Fit for rescue? Notfall + Rettungsmedizin. 2016;19:364–72.
16.
17.
Marmot MG, Smith GD, Stansfeld S, Patel C, North F, Head J, White I, Brunner E, Feeney A. Health inequalities among British civil servants: the Whitehall II study. Lancet. 1991;337:1387–93.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Healy GN, Matthews CE, Dunstan DW, Winkler EA, Owen N. Sedentary time and cardio-metabolic biomarkers in US adults: NHANES 2003–06. Eur Heart J. 2011;32:590–7.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
19.
Edwardson CL, Gorely T, Davies MJ, Gray LJ, Khunti K, Wilmot EG, Yates T, Biddle SJ. Association of sedentary behaviour with metabolic syndrome: a meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2012;7:e34916.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
20.
Konradi AO, Rotar OP, Korostovtseva LS, Ivanenko VV, Solntcev VN, Anokhin SB, Bart VA, Shlyakhto EV. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome components in a population of bank employees from St. Petersburg, Russia. Metab Syndr Relat Disord. 2011;9:337–43.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Ackland TR, Lohman TG, Sundgot-Borgen J, Maughan RJ, Meyer NL, Stewart AD, Muller W. Current status of body composition assessment in sport: review and position statement on behalf of the ad hoc research working group on body composition health and performance, under the auspices of the I.O.C. Medical Commission. Sports Med. 2012;42:227–49.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Alberti KG, Zimmet P, Shaw J. The metabolic syndrome—a new worldwide definition. Lancet. 2005;366:1059–62.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Alberti KG, Zimmet PZ. Definition, diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Part 1: diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus provisional report of a WHO consultation. Diab Med. 1998;15:539–53.CrossRef
24.
National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert. Executive summary of The third report of The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert panel on detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol in adults (adult treatment panel III). JAMA. 2001;285:2486–97.CrossRef
25.
Alberti KG, Eckel RH, Grundy SM, Zimmet PZ, Cleeman JI, Donato KA, Fruchart JC, James WP, Loria CM, Smith SC Jr. Harmonizing the metabolic syndrome: a joint interim statement of the international diabetes federation task force on epidemiology and prevention; national heart, lung, and blood institute; American heart association; world heart federation; international atherosclerosis society; and international association for the study of obesity. Circulation. 2009;120:1640–5.CrossRefPubMed
26.
Ford ES. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome defined by the International Diabetes Federation among adults in the US. Diab Care. 2005;28:2745–9.CrossRef
27.
Wilkinson ML, Brown AL, Poston WS, Haddock CK, Jahnke SA, Day RS. Physician weight recommendations for overweight and obese firefighters, United States, 2011–2012. Prev Chronic Dis. 2014;11:E116.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
28.
Thayyil J, Jayakrishnan TT, Raja M, Cherumanalil JM. Metabolic syndrome and other cardiovascular risk factors among police officers. N Am J Med Sci. 2012;4:630–5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
29.
Janssen I, Katzmarzyk PT, Ross R. Waist circumference and not body mass index explains obesity-related health risk. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;79:379–84.PubMed
30.
Jitnarin N, Poston WS, Haddock CK, Jahnke S, Tuley BC. Accuracy of body mass index-defined overweight in fire fighters. Occup Med (Lond). 2013;63:227–30.CrossRef
31.
Ode J, Knous J, Schlaff R, Hemenway J, Peterson J, Lowry J. Accuracy of body mass index in volunteer firefighters. Occup Med (Lond). 2014;64:193–7.CrossRef
32.
Lee WJ, Huang MT, Wang W, Lin CM, Chen TC, Lai IR. Effects of obesity surgery on the metabolic syndrome. Arch Surg. 2004;139:1088–92.CrossRefPubMed
33.
Clark S, Rene A, Theurer WM, Marshall M. Association of body mass index and health status in firefighters. J Occup Environ Med. 2002;44:940–6.CrossRefPubMed
34.
Healy GN, Wijndaele K, Dunstan DW, Shaw JE, Salmon J, Zimmet PZ, Owen N. Objectively measured sedentary time, physical activity, and metabolic risk: the Australian diabetes, obesity and lifestyle study (AusDiab). Diab Care. 2008;31:369–71.CrossRef
35.
Donovan R, Nelson T, Peel J, Lipsey T, Voyles W, Israel RG. Cardiorespiratory fitness and the metabolic syndrome in firefighters. Occup Med (Lond). 2009;59:487–92.CrossRef
36.
Baur DM, Christophi CA, Kales SN. Metabolic syndrome is inversely related to cardiorespiratory fitness in male career firefighters. J Strength Cond Res. 2012;26:2331–7.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Carey MG, Al-Zaiti SS, Liao LM, Martin HN, Butler RA. A low-glycemic nutritional fitness program to reverse metabolic syndrome in professional firefighters: results of a pilot study. J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2011;26:298–304.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
38.
Moebus S, Hanisch JU, Aidelsburger P, Bramlage P, Wasem J, Jockel KH. Impact of 4 different definitions used for the assessment of the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in primary healthcare: the german metabolic and cardiovascular risk project (GEMCAS). Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2007;6:22.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
39.
Aguilar M, Bhuket T, Torres S, Liu B, Wong RJ. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the United States, 2003–2012. JAMA. 2015;313:1973–4.CrossRefPubMed
40.
Lohsoonthorn V, Lertmaharit S, Williams MA. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among professional and office workers in Bangkok, Thailand. J Med Assoc Thai. 2007;90:1908–15.PubMed
41.
Sperling LS, Mechanick JI, Neeland IJ, Herrick CJ, Despres JP, Ndumele CE, Vijayaraghavan K, Handelsman Y, Puckrein GA, Araneta MR, et al. The cardiometabolic health alliance: working toward a new care model for the metabolic syndrome. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;66:1050–67.CrossRefPubMed
42.
Lowden A, Moreno C, Holmbäck U, Lennernäs M, Tucker P. Eating and shift work—effects on habits, metabolism and performance. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2010;36:150–62.CrossRefPubMed
43.
Costa G. Shift work and occupational medicine: an overview. Occup Med (Lond). 2003;53:83–8.CrossRef
44.
Folkard S, Minors DS, Waterhouse JM. Chronobiology and shift work: current issues and trends. Chronobiologia. 1985;12:31–54.
45.
Lin YC, Hsieh IC, Chen PC. Utilizing the metabolic syndrome component count in workers’ health surveillance: an example of day-time vs. day-night rotating shift workers. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2015;28:675–88.PubMed
46.
47.
Nea FM, Kearney J, Livingstone MB, Pourshahidi LK, Corish CA. Dietary and lifestyle habits and the associated health risks in shift workers. Nutr Res Rev. 2015;28:143–66.CrossRefPubMed
48.
Cooper AJ, Brage S, Ekelund U, Wareham NJ, Griffin SJ, Simmons RK. Association between objectively assessed sedentary time and physical activity with metabolic risk factors among people with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Diabetologia. 2014;57:73–82.CrossRefPubMed
49.
Simmons RK, Griffin SJ, Steele R, Wareham NJ, Ekelund U. Increasing overall physical activity and aerobic fitness is associated with improvements in metabolic risk: cohort analysis of the ProActive trial. Diabetologia. 2008;51:787–94.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
50.
Arem H, Moore SC, Patel A, Hartge P, de Gonzalez AB, Visvanathan K, Campbell PT, Freedman M, Weiderpass E, Adami HO, et al. Leisure time physical activity and mortality: a detailed pooled analysis of the dose-response relationship. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175:959–67.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
51.
Soteriades ES, Hauser R, Kawachi I, Liarokapis D, Christiani DC, Kales SN. Obesity and cardiovascular disease risk factors in firefighters: a prospective cohort study. Obes Res. 2005;13:1756–63.CrossRefPubMed
52.
Baur DM, Christophi CA, Tsismenakis AJ, Jahnke SA, Kales SN. Weight—perception in male career firefighters and its association with cardiovascular risk factors. BMC Publ Health. 2012;12:480.CrossRef
53.
Dutta N, Koepp GA, Stovitz SD, Levine JA, Pereira MA. Using sit-stand workstations to decrease sedentary time in office workers: a randomized crossover trial. Int J Environ Res Publ Health. 2014;11:6653–65.CrossRef
54.
Maruyama C, Kimura M, Okumura H, Hayashi K, Arao T. Effect of a worksite-based intervention program on metabolic parameters in middle-aged male white-collar workers: a randomized controlled trial. Prev Med. 2010;51:11–7.CrossRefPubMed
55.
Bannai A, Tamakoshi A. The association between long working hours and health: a systematic review of epidemiological evidence. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2014;40:5–18.CrossRefPubMed
56.
Marinaccio A, Ferrante P, Corfiati M, Di Tecco C, Rondinone B, Bonafede M, Ronchetti M, Persechino B, Iavicoli S. The relevance of socio-demographic and occupational variables for the assessment of work-related stress risk. BMC Publ Health. 2013;13:1157.CrossRef
57.
De Koning L, Merchant AT, Pogue J, Anand SS. Waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio as predictors of cardiovascular events: meta-regression analysis of prospective studies. Eur Heart J. 2007;28:850–6.CrossRefPubMed
58.
Title LM, Lonn E, Charbonneau F, Fung M, Mather KJ, Verma S, Anderson TJ. Relationship between brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation, hyperemic shear stress, and the metabolic syndrome. Vasc Med. 2008;13:263–70.CrossRefPubMed
59.
Suh BS. The association between serum gamma-glutamyltransferase within normal levels and metabolic syndrome in office workers: a 4-year follow-up study. Korean J Fam Med. 2012;33:51–8.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
60.
Matsuura H, Mure K, Nishio N, Kitano N, Nagai N, Takeshita T. Relationship between coffee consumption and prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Japanese civil servants. J Epidemiol. 2012;22:160–6.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
61.
Committee to Evaluate Diagnostic Standards for Metabolic Syndrome. Definition and the diagnostic standard for metabolic syndrome—committee to evaluate diagnostic standards for metabolic syndrome. Nippon Naika Gakkai Zasshi. 2005;94:794–809.
Metadata
Title
Occupation and metabolic syndrome: is there correlation? A cross sectional study in different work activity occupations of German firefighters and office workers
Authors
Markus Strauß
Peter Foshag
Bianca Przybylek
Marc Horlitz
Alejandro Lucia
Fabian Sanchis-Gomar
Roman Leischik
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1758-5996
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13098-016-0174-0

Other articles of this Issue 1/2016

Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome 1/2016 Go to the issue

Research

Early diabetes screening in women with previous gestational diabetes: a new insight

Research

Adipose tissue dysfunction increases fatty liver association with pre diabetes and newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus

Research

Lixisenatide improves glycemic outcomes of Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis

Research

Usefulness of circulating E-selectin to early detection of the atherosclerotic process in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)

Review

Concepts and clinical use of ultra-long basal insulin

Research

Insulin lispro low mixture twice daily vs basal insulin glargine once daily and prandial insulin lispro once daily as insulin intensification strategies in patients with type 2 diabetes: Latin American subpopulation analysis of a randomized trial

ACC 2024 Congress Coverage

Heart Failure Video

Year in Review: Heart failure and cardiomyopathies

Watch now

Watch this official video from ACC.24 to hear Dr. Biykem Bozkurt discuss last year's major advances in heart failure and cardiomyopathies.

Semaglutide benefits people with type 2 diabetes and obesity-related heart failure

16-04-2024 Type 2 Diabetes News

Incentivised to exercise

11-04-2024 Lifestyle Modifications News

New intervention for STEMI-related cardiogenic shock

10-04-2024 Myocardial Infarction News

» View more highlights on the ACC 2024 congress hub page

Image Credits