Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Changes in Police Officers' Physical Performance after 16 Years of Work

2014; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 16; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1350/ijps.2014.16.4.349

1478-1603

Pål Lagestad, Ole Ragnar Norheim Jenssen, Thomas Dillern,

Sports injuries and prevention

The aim of this retrospective longitudinal study is to examine police officers' physical performance on four physical tests over time. We compared police officers' test results at graduation with their results after 16 years of work as police officers. To illuminate changes in physical performance after 16 years as police officers, we collected data from four physical tests among the 1995 graduating class. The results show significant differences between the pretest and retest on all four physical tests among male police officers and on the bench press and standing long-jump tests among female police officers. The police officers' performance levels decreased (approximately 10–32 per cent) on the four tests after working 16 years as police officers. The results are somewhat problematic and can be viewed as a sign of an inadequate level of general physical fitness, especially in upper body strength, among police officers. We suggest that mandatory annual physical fitness testing and greater opportunities for exercising during work hours be implemented as important strategies for preventing reduced physical performance among police officers in service. Further retrospective longitudinal studies are needed to examine the development of police officers' physical performance over time. We also highly recommend that future studies implement strategies to increase the involvement of participants at the retest.