Physical fitness tests as a requirement for physical performance improvement in officers in the military police of the state of Paraná, Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Physical fitness is crucial for the work of military police officers. Over time, officers show a substantial decrease in physical fitness. State military officers must undergo a physical fitness test every year, but prior to 2015, failure on this test had no impact on career advancement. State Law No. 18.659/2015 included passage of the physical fitness test as a requirement for promotion for officers in the Paraná military police (Polícia Militar do Paraná). Objectives: To verify whether the obligation to undergo the physical fitness test had any effects on the physical performance of military police officers. Methods: The physical fitness tests results from 2016-2019 (n = 1705) were entered into an electronic spreadsheet and stratified by year. The spreadsheet included scores on individual tests ( shuttle run , upper body and 12-minute run) as well as the sum total across all tests. Then, descriptive statistics, normality test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and post-hoc comparisons were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test. with a significance level of p < 0.05. Results: Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed on all variables in the physical fitness test when compared between the years of 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Mean scores on the shuttle run (96.91 ± 7.54) and upper body tests (82.60 ± 24.81) were highest in 2019, while the mean score on the 12-minute run test was highest in 2017 (60.33 ± 28.38). The effect size of these differences (r) was small. Conclusions: The evidence suggests that the inclusion of the physical fitness test as a requirement for promotion can contribute to the improvement of physical performance in military police officers.

Identifying the Physical Fitness and Health Evaluations for Police Officers: Brief Systematic Review with an Emphasis on the Portuguese Research

“…The studies reviewed were related to police candidates, recruits/cadets, or officers. Of the 29 studies, eleven referred to Portuguese police officers [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ] and the other eighteen referred to police officers from around the world (Brazil, USA, Germany, Canada, Korea, Serbia, and Ireland) [ 2 , 7 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Eighteen studies examined both male and female participants [ 7 , 11 , 13 , 15 , 16 , 19 , 21 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 37 ], while eight studies included only male participants [ 2 , 17 , 18 ,…”

“…Eighteen studies examined both male and female participants [ 7 , 11 , 13 , 15 , 16 , 19 , 21 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 37 ], while eight studies included only male participants [ 2 , 17 , 18 , 20 , 22 , 24 , 29 , 32 ]. Three studies did not report the gender of the participants [ 12 , 14 , 36 ].…”

“…Muscular strength was assessed in nine international articles [ 7 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 33 , 35 ] and seven Portuguese studies [ 12 , 13 , 15 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], muscular endurance was measured in 16 international articles [ 7 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ] and seven Portuguese studies [ 11 , 12 , 15 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], and muscular power was measured in 12 international articles [ 7 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 34 , 35 , 37 ] and five Portuguese studies [ 12 ,…”

“…Other measurements of fitness included aerobic capacity, which was assessed in 16 international articles [ 2 , 7 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ] and seven Portuguese studies [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], and anaerobic capacity was assessed in two international articles [ 23 , 33 ] and two Portuguese studies [ 19 , 21 ]. The least commonly reported fitness measures were agility, which was assessed in three international articles [ 22 , 23 , 32 ] and two Portuguese studies [ 20 , 21 ], and flexibility was assessed in six international articles [ 22 , 23 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 30 ] with only one test, and four Portuguese studies [ 12 , 15 , 20 , 21 ] with two tests.…”

“…After critically analyzing all articles, we extracted the following information: authors and year of publication; study population; measures (physical fitness tests); measures (health parameters or questionnaires); main results; general conclusions. All of the information is presented in Table 2 , Table 3 and Table 4 [ 2 , 7 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ].…”