Identifying the Physical Fitness and Health Evaluations for Police Officers: Brief Systematic Review with an Emphasis on the Portuguese Research

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Police health and physical fitness are essential for improving quality of life and police skills. This review aims to identify and analyze international and Portuguese studies that have investigated the relationships between various aspects of physical fitness as specified by job descriptions and to understand the health-related requirements of police officers. This will help to select the most used fitness measures and health-related parameters for police officers and improve training curricula for these occupational groups. ABSTRACT: This review aims (i) to identify and analyze the most used physical fitness tests for police officers (from international and Portuguese studies) and (ii) to understand the health-related physical fitness requirements according to the job descriptions of police officers. A total of 29 studies were included. Eighteen were from around the world and eleven were related to Portuguese police officers. All studies showed acceptable methodological quality in the assessment of physical fitness, and the most used fitness components were muscular strength, endurance, power, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, flexibility, and agility. For the analysis of health parameters, they are insufficient at the international level, while at the Portuguese level we have an acceptable sample. We try to analyze the relationship between physical fitness and health, but the studies conducted so far are insufficient. This review provides summary information (i) to help select the most used fitness measures and health-related parameters for police officers, and (ii) that will serve as a starting point for evaluating the relationship between the health and physical fitness of police officers.