Profiles of US Law Enforcement Officers' Diagnosed Health Conditions: Results from a Probability-Based Sample of Officers

• NCJ Number: 301914
• Journal: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Volume: 63` Issue: 5 Dated: 2021 Pages: 422-431
• Author(s): Elizabeth A. Mumford; Weiwei Liu; Bruce G. Taylor; Sandra Ramey
• Date Published: May 2021
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2016-IJ-CX-0021
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Law Enforcement Officers Safety and Wellness: A Multi-Level Study

Annotation

This study assessed comorbidity across five common health conditions. 

Abstract

Surveys were collected from a probability-based sample of U.S. law enforcement officers, and latent class models estimated for hypertension (HTN), high blood cholesterol (LDL), diabetes (DM), a gastrointestinal disorder (GI), and sleep apnea (SA). Most officers (69.4 percent) were classified in a Healthy profile. One in four officers (23.7 percent) were classified in an LDL-HTN-DM profile. About 7 percent of officers were classified in a GI-SA-HTN profile. Age, sex, body mass index (BMI), exercise, and working a rotating shift assignment distinguished class membership. The study concluded that most officers reported good health. Law enforcement administrative or clinical assessments using readily accessible measures might be informative in identifying risk categories of need for more targeted prevention and treatment support. (Publisher Abstract Modified)