Summary
Previous research suggests that members of the police force are at risk of certain health problems and exposed to a variety of occupational health hazards. To clarify thecharacter of these health problems and their association with certain occupational hazards~ l~ police officers in one division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were assessed.Data examined included their overall health. the extent to which this changed over a fiveyear period (I 994-1 99g). the extent of their exposure to occupational hazards. and theassoci3tion of the hazards \\ith their health status. An expanded definition of health wasused to measure four areas of health: morbidity. health indicators. subjective perceptions3nd functional capacity. The results revealed that the members of this police divisionscored high on most measures of health and that there was little change between 1994 and1998. However. the results suggest that members were at risk for developing cardiacdisease and diabetes. and/or may suffer from chronic conditions. such as asthma andjoint/back problems. The male police officers had higher levels of elevated cholesteroland obesity than the general male Newfoundland population. Some aspects of policework were found to be associated with poorer health. These findings are discussed with reference to other research on police health..