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Systematic review
Physical and psychological factors related to injury, illness and tactical performance in law enforcement recruits: a systematic review
  1. Myles Murphy1,2,
  2. Nicole Merrick1,
  3. Gill Cowen3,
  4. Vanessa Sutton1,
  5. Garth Allen4,
  6. Nicolas H Hart5,6,7,
  7. Andrea B Mosler1,8
  1. 1Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
  2. 2School of Health Sciences, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, WA, Australia
  3. 3Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  4. 4Western Australia Police Force, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
  5. 5School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Western Australia, Australia
  6. 6Exercise Medicine Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia
  7. 7Human Performance Research Centre, INSIGHT Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  8. 8La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Myles Murphy, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; m.murphy{at}ecu.edu.au

Abstract

Objective There are inconsistent reports of factors relating to injury, illness and tactical performance in law enforcement recruits. Our objectives were to: (1) report physical and psychological risk factors and protective factors for injury and illness and (2) report physical and psychological risk factors and protective factors for tactical performance success.

Design Systematic epidemiological review.

Methods Searches of six databases were conducted on 13 December 2022. We included cohorts that assessed physical and psychological factors for injury, illness and tactical performance success. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Quality Assessment Checklist for Prevalence Studies and certainty assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation.

Results 30 studies were included, and quality assessment was performed. Very low certainty of evidence exists for physical variables related to injury risk, and we found no studies that investigated psychological variables as a risk factor for injury. Low-certainty evidence found older age, poorer performance with push-up reps to failure, poorer arm ergometer revolutions, poorer beep test, poorer 75-yard pursuit and the 1.5 miles run tests to be associated with reduced tactical performance. Very low certainty of evidence exists that the psychological variables of intelligence and anger are associated with tactical performance.

Conclusions We identified a lack of high-level evidence for factors associated with injury, illness and performance. Interventions based on this research will be suboptimal. We suggest context-specific factors related to injury, illness and performance in law enforcement populations are used to inform current practice while further, high-quality research into risk factors is performed.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42022381973.

  • Occupational injury
  • Recreation / Sports
  • Epidemiology
  • Systematic Review

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information.

https://doi.org/10.1136/ip-2023-045150

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    Data availability statement

    All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information.

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    Footnotes

    • NHH and ABM are joint senior authors.

    • X @myles_physio, @nic_merrick, @DrNicolasHart, @AndreaBMosler

    • Contributors MM, GA and ABM conceived the idea. MM, NM, GC, VS and ABM performed all screening, extraction, quality assessment and consensus. All authors contributed to manuscript development and approved submission. MM was responsible for the overall content and acts as the guarantor

    • Funding This work was supporting by the Western Australia Department of Health under grant number G1006605, Western Australia Police Force under grant number G1006650 and Defence Science Centre of Western Australia under grant number G1006527.

    • Competing interests GA is employed by the Western Australia Police Force, but had no role in screening, extraction or risk of bias assessment. MM, NM, GC, VS, NHH and ABM declare no conflicts of interest.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research. Refer to the Methods section for further details.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.