Contributions from incumbent police officer's physical activity and body composition to occupational assessment performance.
Front Public Health
; 11: 1217187, 2023.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37415704
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Police officers must perform various tasks in unpredictable work environments and potentially volatile situations. This study aimed to determine if cardiovascular fitness, body composition, and physical activity levels could predict performance in a Midwest Police Department's Physical Readiness Assessment (PRA).Methods:
Researchers collected data from thirty incumbent police officers (33.9 ± 8.3 years, female = 5). Anthropometric data included height, body mass, body fat percentage (BF%), fat-free mass (FFM), and maximal hand grip strength. The police officers also completed a physical activity rating (PA-R) scale to estimate maximal oxygen consumption (VËO2max) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Police officers then conducted their department's PRA. Stepwise linear regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between predictor variables and PRA performance. Pearson's product-moment correlations investigated relationships between anthropometric, physical fitness, and physical activity variables and PRA performance using SPSS (v.28). The significance level was set at p < 0.05.Results:
Descriptive data for the sample includes BF% 27.85 ± 7.57%, FFM 65.73 ± 10.72 kg, hand grip strength 55.51 ± 11.07 kg, weekday sedentary time (WST) 328 ± 28.26 min, weekend day sedentary time (WDST) 310 ± 28.92 min, daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) 29.02 ± 39.41 min, PRA 273.6 ± 51.4 s and estimated VËO2max 43.26 ± 6.35 mL kg-1 min-1. The stepwise regression analyses indicated that BF% was predictive of PRA time (R2 = 0.32, p < 0.01); estimated VËO2max predictive of PRA time (R2 = 0.45, p < 0.001). There were significant correlations between BF % and PRA time (r = 0.57, p < 0.001), PA-R and MVPA (r = 0.71, p < 0.001), %BF % and WDST (r = -0.606, p < 0.001), hand grip and FFM (r = 0.602, p < 0.001) and PA-R and PRA time (r = -0.36, p < 0.05).Discussion:
The results of this exploratory study highlight that higher estimated VËO2max and lower BF% were the best predictors for faster PRA completion times, accounting for 45% and 32% of the variance, respectively. The findings of this study support the need for wellness and fitness initiatives in law enforcement agencies focused on increasing cardiovascular fitness and physical activity while decreasing BF% to ensure optimal performance in policing and overall health.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Temas:
ECOS
/
Aspectos_gerais
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Polícia
/
Força da Mão
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Front Public Health
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos