TY - JOUR
T1 - Establishing Reference Data for Fitness Assessment of Law Enforcement Officers Using a Qualitative Systematic Review
AU - Massuça, Luís Miguel
AU - Santos, Vanessa
AU - Monteiro, Luís
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/5
Y1 - 2023/5
N2 - Physical fitness tests are a standard means of evaluating the competence of police officers. This qualitative review aims (i) to document, compare, and examine the reference values available in the current literature regarding fitness tests for Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), and (ii) to define reference values for the most used fitness tests to assess and predict police officer performance. A total of 1879 records were collected for review from two major literature databases, PubMed and ScienceDirect. After applying our exclusion criteria, a total of 19 studies were considered. All studies demonstrated acceptable methodological quality in fitness assessment, and the most used components were muscle strength, muscular endurance, muscle power, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, flexibility, and agility. This review provides (i) a methodological definition for the physical fitness assessment that helps select the most used fitness tests, (ii) a standardised methodology for establishing reference data for fitness tests appropriate for LEOs; and (iii) aggregate reference values for selected fitness tests. This may improve selection and retention procedures, considering that this group performs its duties in an environment and under conditions that differ from those of other occupational groups. Complementarily, this qualitative review also provides a foundation for developing effective interventions to improve each aspect of fitness testing for police officers.
AB - Physical fitness tests are a standard means of evaluating the competence of police officers. This qualitative review aims (i) to document, compare, and examine the reference values available in the current literature regarding fitness tests for Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), and (ii) to define reference values for the most used fitness tests to assess and predict police officer performance. A total of 1879 records were collected for review from two major literature databases, PubMed and ScienceDirect. After applying our exclusion criteria, a total of 19 studies were considered. All studies demonstrated acceptable methodological quality in fitness assessment, and the most used components were muscle strength, muscular endurance, muscle power, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, flexibility, and agility. This review provides (i) a methodological definition for the physical fitness assessment that helps select the most used fitness tests, (ii) a standardised methodology for establishing reference data for fitness tests appropriate for LEOs; and (iii) aggregate reference values for selected fitness tests. This may improve selection and retention procedures, considering that this group performs its duties in an environment and under conditions that differ from those of other occupational groups. Complementarily, this qualitative review also provides a foundation for developing effective interventions to improve each aspect of fitness testing for police officers.
KW - law enforcement
KW - normative values for fitness
KW - physical fitness
KW - police officers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159079895&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/healthcare11091253
DO - 10.3390/healthcare11091253
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85159079895
SN - 2227-9032
VL - 11
JO - Healthcare (Switzerland)
JF - Healthcare (Switzerland)
IS - 9
M1 - 1253
ER -