Representations about physical activity among firefighters. A study in Wallonie ; Détermination de la place de l’activité physique au sein des services régionaux d’incendie

Introduction To be a firefighter is a dangerous job. Many authors have found anxiety, stress, depression, sleep disorders, absenteeism and other deviant behaviors in this type of high-risk occupation (Fullerton, Ursano & Wang, 2004 ; Carey, Al-Zaiti, Dean, Sessanna & Finnell, 2011 ; Elliot & Kuehl, 2007). Adopting an active lifestyle is therefore very important in reducing these health risks and thus maximizing the chances of staying healthy. It is for this reason that physical activity has an essential role for these people. According to this determining the place occupied by phys... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Dubru, Gilles
Gribomont, Antoine
Cloes, Marc
Dokumenttyp: conference poster not in proceedings
Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
Schlagwörter: Firefighters / Physical Activity / Representations / Human health sciences / Public health / health care sciences & services / Sciences de la santé humaine / Santé publique / services médicaux & soins de santé
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29277385
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/214094

Introduction To be a firefighter is a dangerous job. Many authors have found anxiety, stress, depression, sleep disorders, absenteeism and other deviant behaviors in this type of high-risk occupation (Fullerton, Ursano & Wang, 2004 ; Carey, Al-Zaiti, Dean, Sessanna & Finnell, 2011 ; Elliot & Kuehl, 2007). Adopting an active lifestyle is therefore very important in reducing these health risks and thus maximizing the chances of staying healthy. It is for this reason that physical activity has an essential role for these people. According to this determining the place occupied by physical activity within the regional Walloon fire servicesseemed relevant. The first step should be to analyse the firefighters’ representations and lifestyle. Methods An online questionnaire (SurveyMonkey) was developed. It proposed a majority of closed-ended questions facing on age (38 ± 10.4 years), BMI (26.1 ± 3.7), gender (96.7% of men), rank, status (38.3% professional), PA representations and practices, well-being and self-esteem, job satisfaction, … We contacted one of the main firefighters association (FRCSPB) to reach a significant number of topics. 443 questionnaires were collected during a five weeks period. 394 were usable. 376 responses were needed to achieve a 95% confidence level with a 5% confidence interval based on all Belgian Firefighter. Results and discussion Results showed that firefighter showed positive representations about PA and were aware of the benefits of a regular practice on their health. Good stress management and cardiovascular endurance qualities were considerate as important in this profession. Nevertheless, subjects deplored a lack of maintenance of these qualities. The mean BMI of the subjects was above 26, indicating a slight overweight. Sedentary lifestyle, poor infrastructure, injuries due to lack of fitness allow us to suspect an insufficient training. Other factors were pointed out by the subjects (stress, absenteeism, deviant behavior…). Firefighters were generally satisfied with ...