Age and physical activity status of Australian volunteer firefighters: a cross-sectional study

David N. Borg; Daniel Moore; Ian B. Stewart

doi:10.1071/WF23146

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Age and physical activity status of Australian volunteer firefighters: a cross-sectional study

David N. Borg

^A ^* , Daniel Moore ^B and Ian B. Stewart

^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.

^B Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic., Australia.

^* Correspondence to: dn.borg@qut.edu.au

International Journal of Wildland Fire 33, WF23146 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF23146

Submitted: 11 September 2023 Accepted: 24 March 2024 Published: 18 April 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

There have been concerns of an aging Australian volunteer firefighter workforce.

Aims

To (1) determine the age distribution of Australian volunteer firefighters; (2) estimate the proportion of volunteer firefighters who met the Australian physical activity guidelines; (3) investigate the relationship between age and physical activity and exercise in volunteer firefighters.

Methods

An online survey was electronically distributed to Rural Fire Service volunteers in Queensland, Australia. The survey included demographic and physical activity questions. National guidelines were used to determine whether respondents met the Australian physical activity recommendations. The relationships between age and weekly physical activity and weekly exercise minutes were modelled using Bayesian methods.

Key results

The median age of responders (n = 480) was 54 years. Compared with Australian population data, volunteer firefighters were four times more likely to meet the physical activity guidelines and the exercise-only guidelines, but 1.4 times more likely to not meet the strength-based activity guidelines. Number of weekly physical activity minutes declined with age, by 61 min each decade.

Conclusions

Volunteers were more likely to meet the national physical activity and exercise-only guidelines, but less likely to meet the strength-based activity guidelines.

Implications

Volunteer firefighters could benefit from outreach programs that promote participation in strength-based training.

Keywords: bushfire, climate, emergency, exercise, firefighter, fitness, natural disaster, physical activity, resistance, strength-based training, training, wildfire.

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