The influence of occupational history, musculoskeletal pain, and lifestyle behaviors of law enforcement applicants on physical abilities test performance

This study aimed to compare musculoskeletal pain, demographic variables, and lifestyle behaviors between law enforcement applicants with and without prior tactical experience. Secondly, this study determined how prior tactical experience, musculoskeletal pain, lifestyle behaviors, and demographic variables related to performance on a law enforcement physical ability test (PAT). Eighty participants (33.0 ± 11.1 years, BMI = 28.8 ± 4.7 kg/m²; 69 male, 11 female) completed demographic, occupational, and musculoskeletal pain questionnaires before performing the PAT. Demographic variables, musculoskeletal pain, and lifestyle behaviors were compared between participants with and without prior first responder experience using Mann-Whitney U and Chi-Square tests. Sex, BMI, musculoskeletal pain in the last 12 months, weekly caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol use, and prior first responder experience were descriptively analyzed. These data were used to predict PAT performance (i.e., time to complete aerobic component) using multiple linear regression. Forty-seven (58.8%) of the participants had experience working as a first responder. Participants with prior first responder experience were significantly older (p < 0.001), used more tobacco (p = 0.025), and consumed more alcohol (p = 0.040) and caffeine (p = 0.027). Twenty-five (33.8%) of the participants reported experiencing musculoskeletal pain in the last 12 months. PAT performance was significantly associated with sex, BMI, and age (p < 0.001, adjusted R² = 0.270). The higher tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine use among participants with prior experience suggests these behaviors may be established before hiring as coping mechanisms. Law enforcement training should teach healthy coping strategies and consider age, sex, and BMI when training aerobic fitness.