In this paper, researchers investigate work-related risk factors for chronic disease among law enforcement personnel.
This study characterizes the extent to which work-related risk factors contribute to perturbations in physiological indicators of health and chronic disease. The study also examined the combined impacts of these work factors and to test hypotheses that specifically target maladaptation to atypical work hours and whether intolerance to these work factors is associated with adverse trends in several chronic disease indicators, including increases in biomarkers of inflammation and immunity; endocrine and metabolic dysregulation; decreases in heart rate variability (HRV), which is an indicator of autonomic nervous system dysregulation; and reductions in global DNA methylation, an indicator of genomic instability and risk factor for several types of cancer. Evaluating trends in health indicators among police officers over time provides an opportunity to identify evidence-based strategies of adaptation to atypical work hours that are associated with normal biomarker trajectories among law enforcement officers. This study adds to the current understanding of these issues by examining the role of adaptation/maladaptation to atypical work hours that occurred longitudinally over a median period of follow-up of ~12 years, capturing an appropriate temporal sequence of changes in biomarkers that may potentially be indicative of early disease onset. The identification of risk factors that either facilitate or detract from adaptation to atypical work hours that can aid in development and refinement of strategies to improve health and well-being among police officers, and to help prevent the onset of chronic diseases that have been associated with these facilitators of occupational stress. The population studied in this investigation consisted of law enforcement officers enrolled in the Buffalo Cardiometabolic Police Stress (BCOPS) cohort. Atypical work hours were defined as: work outside of a standard daytime work shift, the number of shift changes that occur over an extended period, the effect of cumulative overtime hours, and/or secondary employment.