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Study aims to prevent stress-related health problems

By Doug Wyllie, Police1 Senior Editor

Retired New York State Trooper John Violanti, Ph.D. tells Police1 that he is a principal investigator on a study being conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the University at Buffalo (UB) looking at the “effects of policing and stress on adverse metabolic and early stage (subclinical) cardiovascular outcomes with the ultimate goal of preventing these and other stress-related disorders.” A blog authored by Dr. Violanti and his colleagues (Tara A. Hartley, M.P.A., M.P.H. and Cecil M. Burchfiel, Ph.D., M.P.H.) can be read in full here.

These researchers are looking at salivary cortisol (often called the “stress hormone”) to assess whether stress is associated with things like metabolic abnormalities and “subclinical cardiovascular outcomes (e.g., decreased brachial artery response, increased carotid artery wall thickness, decreased heart rate variability) that are detectable before they manifest as disease such as diabetes and myocardial infarction.”

To date, more than 400 police officers have participated in the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) study, in part because as a retired New York state trooper, Dr. Violanti brings unique insight and maintains a sense of credibility among the officers who participate.

Dr. Violanti and his team want to hear from police officers, administration personnel, police unions, law enforcement planners, other emergency responders, and investigators focused in this area of research. Questions to which they are seeking answers include:

  • What are the key stressors involved with police work?
  • How should NIOSH share our future results with law enforcement agencies throughout the country (e.g. workshops, print media, Web sites)?
  • What types of interventions would be feasible in the future to 1) decrease work-related stress and 2) improve cardiovascular health among police officers?

Ms. Hartley is an Epidemiologist in the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, and Dr. Burchfiel is the Project Officer and the Chief of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch. They are located at the NIOSH Health Effects Laboratory Division, Morgantown, WV. Dr. Violanti is the Principal Investigator and is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.

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