title: Metabolic demands of law enforcement personal protective equipment during exercise tasks.
abstract: Many occupations require the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) but the added metabolic demands are unknown for certain professions. The purpose of this study was to quantify metabolic and perceptual differences between activity with and without the PPE ensemble required for police officers. Twelve participants were asked to complete experimental and control exercise sessions consisting of three modes of exercise (walking, jogging and stepping). A significant main effect (p < 0.01) for gear was found for heart rate (beats per minute) and VO2 (L/min) between conditions. Dependent t-tests revealed significant differences for perceived effort, discomfort and session rating of perceived exertion between trials. Medium to large effect sizes for all variables with significant main effects between modes (p < 0.01, η2 = 0.51-0.96, 1-β = 0.98-1.0, d = 0.42-2.7) were observed. These findings help to increase awareness of how PPE affects metabolic demands and perception of discomfort during exercise.
authors.affiliation: a Exercise Science Program, School of Human Movement, Sport and Leisure Studies , Bowling Green State University , Bowling Green, OH , USA.
authors.forename: Hannah R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: DiVencenzo
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: C Matt
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Laurent
authors.forename: K Todd
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Keylock
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology; D016495:Police; D011481:Protective Clothing / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: law enforcement; metabolic demand; personal protective equipment; work physiology