The Effects of Number of Fire Dispatches and Other Situational Factors on Voluntary Exercise Training Among Korean Firefighters: A Multilevel Logistic Regression Analysis

Abstract

According to previous research, participation in exercise training (ET) by South Korean firefighters varies with shift type, and the effect of shift type is greater in large cities than in small towns. However, shift types differ among regions, depending on the number of dispatches. Therefore, the present study examined the impact of the number of fire dispatches and other situational factors on ET. A series of multilevel logistic regression analysis was applied to analyze the data collected from South Korean firefighters (N = 5219) in 2017. According to the firefighters, participation in ET is higher among those who have someone to instruct their ET (Coefficient (Coef) = 0.057, SE = 0.017,p< 0.001) and who can do ET while on duty (Coef = 0.048, SE = 0.014,p< 0.001). The number of fire dispatches had a significant effect on participation in ET (Coef = -0.000, SE = 0.000,p< 0.01), meaning that the firefighters' participation in ET varies with the number of fire dispatches in each region. Our main findings indicate that the number of fire dispatches is a key factor affecting ET participation among firefighters, and the other situational factors also play a role. Therefore, ET programs that firefighters can participate in between calls should be established.