Occupational aging: The influence of age and firefighting experience on cardiovascular health indices

Firefighters face elevated cardiovascular disease risk, yet most studies examine age without considering years of firefighting experience as a proxy for cumulative occupational stress. We investigated the influence of age and years of experience on cardiovascular health indices in 72 male suburban firefighters from the southeastern U.S. who completed assessments of body composition, resting blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and cardiorespiratory fitness. General linear models compared age tertiles with and without years of experience as a covariate. Multiple cardiovascular indices differed by age, with pairwise comparisons most pronounced between the youngest and oldest tertiles. When adjusting for years of experience, age effects remained only for augmentation index, whereas years of experience had a greater impact on diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and pulse wave velocity. These findings suggest occupational stressors are associated with poorer CV indices independent of age, underscoring the importance of early screening and preventive strategies in the fire service.