Clinical trial NCT01813032: Comparison of Vascular Function in Emergency Service Professionals
Official title: Comparison of Vascular Function in Emergency Service Professionals
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Vascular Function
Atherothrombosis
Keywords: firefighters
police officers
emergency service professionals
myocardial infarction
endothelial function
thrombosis
Lead sponsor: University of Edinburgh
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2013-03-18
Enrollment: 36
Sex: MALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Subjects will be healthy, non-smoking, whole-time firefighters working within Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service and age- and sex-matched police officers who are also healthy and non-smokers working within Lothian and Borders Police Force.

Brief summary: Emergency Service Professionals have an increased risk of death from heart attacks when compared to the general public. All the emergency professions share similar responsibilities such as emergency call-outs and shift work. Heart disease is the commonest cause of on-duty death amongst fire-fighters accounting for 45% and compared with 22% in police officers and 15% in the general population. The unique risk to fire-fighters is likely to reflect a combination of factors including extreme physical exertion, mental stress, heat and pollutant exposure.

In this study the investigators will assess healthy career fire-fighters and age-matched healthy police officer control subjects following a sedentary period. The investigators will take blood samples to measure platelet activity (platelets are the particles in blood that help blood clot) and will examine how blood clots outside of the body. The investigators will then perform studies placing small needles in the arm to assess how the blood vessels respond following these duties. The investigators hypothesise that fire-fighters do not have pre-existing impairment of heart, blood or blood vessel function as a cumulative effect of their occupation, but rather these are acute and transitory effects following distinct fire-fighter duties. We therefore expect similar results in both occupational groups.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Non-smoking healthy firefighters

Exclusion Criteria:

* Current smoker
* History of lung or ischaemic heart disease
* Malignant arrhythmia
* Systolic blood pressure \>190mmHg or \<100mmHg
* Renal or hepatic dysfunction
* Previous history of blood dyscrasia
* Unable to tolerate the supine position
* Blood donation within the last 3 months
* Recent respiratory tract infection within the past 4 weeks
* Routine medication including aspirin and NSAIDs

Primary outcomes:
measure: Forearm blood flow measured by venous occlusion plethysmography in response to infused vasodilators
timeFrame: following 48 hours off duty
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Ex-vivo thrombus formation using the Badimon chamber
timeFrame: following 48 hours off duty
measure: Plasma t-PA and PAI concentrations following infusion of bradykinin
timeFrame: During forearm study, following 48 hours off duty
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Edinburgh
country: United Kingdom
facility: Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Edinburgh
name: David E Newby, MD PhD
role: STUDY_CHAIR
affiliation: University of Edinburgh
name: Nicholas L Mills, MBChB PhD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: University of Edinburgh
name: Amanda L Hunter, MBChB
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: