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Table 1 Firefighter demographics and work status by WA and standard department status

From: An examination of the benefits of health promotion programs for the national fire service

Firefighter demographics

WA§ (n = 522; 52.1)

Standard (n = 480; 47.9)

p-value

Age (years)

39.9(8.5)

38.4(9.1)

0.006

Race/Ethnicity (%)

  

<0.001

 -White, non-Hispanic

67.4

67.2

 

 -Black, non-Hispanic

2.9

6.1

 

 -Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic

14.4

5.9

 

 -Other, non-Hispanic

5.1

4.8

 

 -Hispanic, any race

10.3

16.1

 

Marital status (% married or part of unmarried couple)

78.4

75.5

0.289

Served in military (% yes)

19.8

20.6

0.753

Education (%)

  

0.306

 -Less than high school graduate

0.2

1.1

 

 -High school graduate or GED

9.3

8.6

 

 -Some college

68.0

69.6

 

 -College graduate or higher

22.5

20.7

 

Firefighter fire service status

Years in the fire service (years)

14.6(8.3)

13.6(8.9)

0.140

Total annual income (%)

  

0.004

 -<$25,000

1.2

1.2

 

 -$25,000-$50,000

4.3

9.2

 

 -$50,001-$75,000

14.1

16.1

 

 -$75,001-$100,000

25.4

26.7

 

 ->$100,000

55.0

43.8

 

Rank (% company or chief officer)

22.6

30.0

0.010

Hours per week worked at department

59.0(13.1)

55.8(15.6)

0.001

Shift Type (%)

  

<0.001

 –24

76.1

90.1

 

 –48

22.3

6.5

 

-Other

1.6

3.4

 

Call Type (%)

 -Fire

1.2

1.6

0.792

 -EMS

0.6

0.9

 

 -Both

98.2

97.5

 

Second Job Outside of Fire Department (% yes)

35.4

55.4

<0.001

Department characteristics (N = 20)

WA (n = 10)

Standard (n = 10)

 

Size (n)

  

0.844

 -Small

3

4

 

 -Medium

4

4

 

 -Large/Metro

3

2

 

Setting (n)

  

0.706

 -Rural

1

3

 

 -Suburban

6

4

 

 -Urban

1

1

 

 -Mixed Urban

2

2

 

Region (n)

  

0.999

 -Pacific/West

4

4

 

 -Mountain/Central

4

4

 

 -East/Southeast

2

2

 
  1. §WA=Wellness approach.