Vol 11, Issue 4

Relationships between Assessments in a Physical Ability Test for Law Enforcement: Is There Redundancy in Certain Assessments?

June 15, 2018 - By 

Authors

Karly Cesario, University of California, Fullerton
Joe Dulla, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
Ashley Blood Good, University of California,Fullerton
Matthew R. Moreno, California State University, Fullerton
J. Jay Dawes, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Robert G. Lockie, California State University, Fullerton
International Journal of Exercise Science 11(4): 1063-1073, 2018.
DOI: 10.70252/EYLB2853

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between tests incorporated into a physical assessment battery (PAT) for a law enforcement (LEA) to determine if there were redundancies (i.e. tests measuring the same qualities). A retrospective analysis of 226 recruits (196 males, 30 females) was conducted. The PAT consisted of: maximal push-ups and sit-ups completed in 60 s; a 75-yard pursuit run (75PR); maximal revolutions completed on an arm ergometer in 60 s; and a 2.4 km run. A one-way ANOVA (p<0.05) determined if there were significant differences in the PAT data between the sexes. Pearson’s correlations (p<0.05) calculated relationships between each of the tests within the PAT, and males and females were analyzed separately. Further, tests that could potentially measure similar qualities, including upper-body endurance (push-ups/arm ergometer), abdominal endurance (push-ups/sit-ups), and aerobic fitness (arm ergometer/2.4 km run) were investigated further with one-sample t-tests to determine agreement. Males performed better than the females in all tests (p≤0.017). There were significant correlations between assessments for both males and females (e.g. push-ups, sit-ups and arm ergometer, 75PR and sit-ups, arm ergometer and 2.4 km run), but the strength of these relationships was small-to-moderate. The one-sample t-tests for the selected comparisons (push-ups/arm ergometer; push-ups/sit-ups; arm ergometer/2.4 km run), for males and females were all significant (p<0.001), which meant the test pairs did not agree. The results indicate that if a LEA uses these tests in a PAT, they can do so knowing they are measuring five relatively distinct physical qualities.

Recommended Citation