Injury-related hospital admission of female firefighters in South Korea.

PURPOSE: The main objective of this study was to ascertain whether injury-related hospital admission in all South Korea female firefighters is greater than that in the general population.

METHODS: To perform this comparison, the standardized admission ratios (SARs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by person-years and mortality computation software.

RESULTS: Compared to the general population, the SARs for overall injury (SAR = 1.57, 95% CI [1.24, 1.96]) and for injury to the lower back (SAR = 2.78, 95% CI [1.81, 4.07]) in the female firefighters were significantly higher. The SARs for injury to the knee (SAR = 2.48, 95% CI [1.18, 4.55]) in emergency medical services (EMS) workers were significantly higher than those in the general population.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the SARs of overall injury and injury to the lower back in female firefighters and knee injury in the EMS were significantly higher than those in the general population. Further studies are needed to protect the lower back of firefighters and the knees of EMS.