Relationship between the burnout syndrome and hypertension in firefighthers from Mexico city, D.F.

Introduction
Since, there are reports of the association between the Burnout syndrome (BO) and some cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, as part of a study project about Mexico City firefighters health conditions this association was studied. This study goal was to determine in this group the association between the presence of BO and the development of high blood pressure (HTA), and their degree of cardiovascular risk.

Methods
This was an analytical cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of 181 firefighters studied from March to December of 2010. Firefighters were placed at the Central and other 5 substations. Participants signed an informed consent letter. The CESQT questionnaire was applied to assess BO presence. Blood pressure was measured at two different days, and a blood sample was taken to analyze the cholesterol and HDL levels. Data were analyzed using the Chi2 test with a significance level of < 0.05.

Results
The firefighters had a HTA prevalence of 10% and a BO prevalence of 2%. In addition, the Firefighters with BO had a significant association with the HTA prevalence (p. = 0.04). Firefighters´ seniority, high BMI, and low HDL were also associated to presence of BO and HTA. However, in general the studied firefighters had a low cardiovascular risk.

Discussion
Mexico City firefighters are exposed to chronic job stress that causes in them BO and HTA. For this reason, it is fundamental to impel in a short term preventive actions to avoid more health damages of this important group of workers.