Relationships Between Physical Fitness Assessment Measures and a Workplace Task-Specific Physical Assessment Among Police Officers: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Police officers are required to perform physically demanding occupational tasks and, as such, require an adequate level of fitness. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between a physical fitness assessment test (PAT) and a task-specific physical competency test (PCT). Retrospective data for 307 police trainees who completed the PAT and the PCT were provided. The PAT comprised a 2.4-km run, vertical jump, push-ups, and grip strength measures. The PCT, a single timed event, consisted of 10 occupational specific tasks (e.g., trailer push, wall climb, window climb through), which were completed within a 400-m obstacle course. Pearson's correlations were used to investigate relationships between the PAT and the PCT. Linear regression analyses were conducted to determine whether PAT predicted PCT performance. All PAT measures significantly correlated with PCT performance with the strength of the correlations ranging from moderate (vertical jump; r = -0.420, p < 0.01) to strong (2.4 km run; r = 0.639, p < 0.01). The highest predictive relationship was observed with 2.4-km run (r2 = 0.409), and the lowest predictive relationship was observed with the vertical jump (r2 = 0.177). The results of this study highlight the importance of aerobic capacity (2.4 km run), muscular endurance (push-ups), strength (grip strength), and power (vertical jump) for successful performance during the PCT. These physical attributes should be developed in new police trainees before attending recruit training if viable and form part of any return-to-work reconditioning frameworks for both police trainees and officers.