A job-related fitness test for the Dutch police.
BACKGROUND
The variety of tasks that characterize police work highlights the importance of being in good physical condition.


OBJECTIVE
To take a first step at standardizing the administration of a job-related test to assess a person's ability to perform the physical demands of the core tasks of police work. The principal research questions were: are test scores related to gender, age and function and are test scores related to body mass index (BMI) and the number of hours of physical exercise?


METHODS
Data of 6999 police officers, geographically spread over all parts of The Netherlands, who completed a physical competence test over a 1 year period were analysed.


RESULTS
Women performed the test significantly more slowly than men. The mean test score was also related to age; the older a person the longer it took to complete the test. A higher BMI was associated with less hours of body exercise a week and a slower test performance, both in women and men.


CONCLUSIONS
The differences in individual test scores, based on gender and age, have implications for future strategy within the police force. From a viewpoint of 'same job, same standard' one has to accept that test-score differences may lead to the exclusion of certain staff. However, from a viewpoint of 'diversity as a business issue', one may have to accept that on average, both female and older police officers are physically less tailored to their jobs than their male and younger colleagues.
Manager Health Program Dutch Police, vts Politie Nederland, Landelijk Programma HRM, PO Box 14, NL 3730 AA De Bilt, The Netherlands. m.strating@planet.nl
M
M
Strating
R H
RH
Bakker
G J
GJ
Dijkstra
K A P M
KA
Lemmink
J W
JW
Groothoff
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D016272:Occupational Health; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016495:Police; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation