Table 1.
Demographic and other characteristics of the study participants by gender; BCOPS 2004–2009
| Characteristics | All (n = 360), mean ± SD | Women (n = 99), mean ± SD | Men (n = 261), mean ± SD | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (27–66 y) | 41.2 ± 6.6 | 41.0 ± 5.8 | 41.3 ± 6.9 | 0.740 |
| Years of service | 14.5 ± 6.8 | 13.6 ± 6.4 | 14.8 ± 7.0 | 0.153 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 29.2 ± 4.7 | 26.0 ± 4.8 | 30.4 ± 4.1 | < 0.0001 |
| Alcohol (drinks/wk) | 5.2 ± 8.3 | 3.3 ± 4.5 | 5.9 ± 9.3 | 0.001 |
| Sleep duration (h/24 h) | 6.1 ± 1.2 | 6.1 ± 1.2 | 6.1 ± 1.2 | 0.959 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 132.7 (122.0–143.4) | 76.9 (67.2–86.7) | 153.8 (140.4–167.3) | < 0.0001 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 202.3 ± 37.8 | 193.9 ± 36.5 | 205.4 ± 37.9 | 0.010 |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 129.4 ± 34.0 | 120.4 ± 31.8 | 132.9 ± 34.2 | 0.002 |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 46.6 ± 14.7 | 58.2 ± 15.2 | 42.2 ± 11.9 | < 0.0001 |
| Education | 0.054 | |||
| ≤ HS/GED | 37 (10.3) | 4 (4.0) | 33 (12.7) | |
| < 4 y college | 205 (57.1) | 60 (60.6) | 145 (55.8) | |
| ≥ 4 y college | 117 (32.6) | 35 (35.4) | 82 (31.5) | |
| Race/ethnicity | 0.050 | |||
| White/Hispanic | 279 (78.6) | 71 (71.7) | 208 (81.3) | |
| African American | 76 (21.4) | 8 (28.3) | 48 (18.8) | |
| Rank | 0.115 | |||
| Patrol officer | 259 (71.9) | 79 (79.8) | 180 (69.0) | |
| Sergeant/lieutenant | 51 (14.2) | 11 (11.1) | 40 (15.3) | |
| Captain/detective/other | 50 (13.9) | 9 (9.1) | 41 (15.7) | |
| Smoking status | < 0.001 | |||
| Current | 61 (17.0) | 25 (25.8) | 36 (13.8) | |
| Former | 82 (22.9) | 30 (30.9) | 52 (19.9) | |
| Never | 215 (60.1) | 42 (43.3) | 173 (66.3) | |
| Shift work | < 0.0001 | |||
| Day | 172 (47.8) | 76 (76.8) | 96 (36.8) | |
| Afternoon | 99 (27.5) | 8 (8.1) | 91 (34.9) | |
| Night | 89 (24.7) | 15 (15.2) | 74 (28.4) | |
| Sleep quality | 0.713 | |||
| Good (≤ 5) | 162 (45.0) | 43 (43.4) | 119 (45.6) | |
| Poor (> 5) | 198 (55.0) | 56 (56.6) | 142 (54.4) | |
| Shift work + sleep quality | < 0.0001 | |||
| Day + good | 76 (21.1) | 31 (31.3) | 45 (17.2) | |
| Day + poor | 65 (18.1) | 37 (37.4) | 28 (10.7) | |
| Afternoon/night + good | 86 (23.9) | 12 (12.1) | 74 (28.4) | |
| Afternoon/night + poor | 133 (36.9) | 19 (19.2) | 114 (43.7) |
The p values are for differences between women and men.
For continuous variables, p values were obtained from t tests.
For categorical variables, p values were obtained from chi-square or Fisher's exact tests.
Shift work refers to the dominant shift in the past 1 year.
BCOPS, Buffalo Cardio-metabolic Occupational Police Stress; BMI, body mass index; GED, General Education Development; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; HS, High School; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; SD, standard deviation.