Search

A study compared police officers' physical fitness levels with workers' compensation (WC) claims. Officers who collected WC were predominantly female, younger, and lower ranking, with better physical fitness than officers not collecting WC. Officers in the second highest fitness level and older officers with greater cardiovascular fitness had higher WC costs. (SM)

Strength is a critical factor in the health and job performance of police officers. Using a retrospective longitudinal design, the purpose of this study was to identify differences in strength scores from initial recruitment to in-service tests and to compare gender differences. Strength changes were also compared in low- to high-strength groups. Strength scores included bench press, bench press/lean weight, and bench press/weight. Body weight, percent body fat, and bench press scores were retrieved for the 1990-1995 recruit classes and were paired to most recent scores on 2006 in-service fitness record. Sample included 327 police officers: 30 females and 297 males. Mean age at initial recruitment was 24.6 years and for in-service was 37.1 years. Average time between tests was 12.5 years. Over this period bench press and bench press/lean weight significantly increased for both gender groups (p [less than or equal to] 0.05). Bench press/weight remained relatively consistent. When dividing the men's strength scores into five low- to high-strength groups, there tended to be an averaging effect over time with the strongest group changing least and the weakest group changing most. In conclusion, the results of this study did not follow expected strength trends, which reported annual declines in muscular strength in men and women. Overall, officers increased in strength well into their late 30s. The practical applications of this study include documented benefits gained from maintaining ongoing fitness training and testing, as well as the potentially positive role of weight gain on strength. Also, low- to high-strength groups did not change relative positions over time even with improvements in strength scores, demonstrating the importance of minimum selection criteria for police. KEY WORDS bench press, police, longitudinal study, body weight, sex differences

THE communications revolution that began with the first electric telegraph in 1837 made a great leap forward in 1843 with the discovery of the insulating properties of gutta percha.(1) Until [...]

Objectives: To compare the immediate postcounseling retention of important information using the traditional method with retention obtained using the Indian Health Service (IHS) interactive technique, and to compare the time required to counsel patients on new prescriptions using the traditional method with the time required using the IHS technique.Design: A prospective, nonrandomized, observational study at four different local community pharmacies in Oregon. Two sites that used the traditional counseling model served as the control sites, while two other sites used the IHS counseling model. Only new prescriptions were included in this study. The pharmacists did not alter their counseling styles for new prescriptions for the purposes of this study. The duration of counseling between the pharmacist and patient was recorded. Immediately upon completion of counseling, patients met with the primary investigator for postcounseling knowledge assessment on indication of therapy, directions on how to take their medication properly, and expected adverse effects.Setting: Four local community pharmacies in Oregon.Participants: Five hundred patients at four local community pharmacies in Oregon.Intervention: Use of the IHS counseling technique.Main Outcome Measures: Immediate recall of key counseling points and time per counseling session.Results: A total of 500 patients participated in the study. Seventy-one percent of patients counseled using the IHS technique answered all three questions correctly, compared with 33% of patients counseled using the traditional method (P <0.00). For patients who were counseled about adverse effects, 80% counseled using the IHS technique compared with 51.5% counseled using the traditional approach answered all three questions correctly. For indication of therapy, there was no evidence of a difference in the proportion of correct answers between counseling types on the reason for taking their medication (P = 0.06). Those who received IHS counseling had four times the odds of correctly answering when to take their medication and four times the odds of correctly answering all adverse effects questions. The duration of counseling methods differed by 53 seconds (128 s for IHS vs. 75 s for traditional).Conclusion: The interactive style of the IHS method of counseling provided significantly improved immediate memory recall compared with the traditional method. The IHS method also took longer than the traditional method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strength, when considering gender and race, provides a basis for training, hiring, and retention for police officers. The purpose of this study is to identify muscular strength differences among racial groups from initial-recruit to in-service tests. Strength variables included bench press, bench press/lean mass and bench press/body mass. Scores were retrieved for the 1990 to 1995 recruit classes and were paired to the 2006 in-service fitness log. Sample included 309 officers: 30 females (13 black, 17 white) and 279 males (41 black, 238 white). Mean age of recruit was 24.6 ± 3.4 years and for in-service was 37.1 ± 3.7 years. Time between tests was 12.5 ± 2.0 years. Bench press strength significantly increased for all gender and racial groups. Black males were significantly stronger in bench press at initial-recruit and at in-service than white males. All racial and gender groups increased in bench press/lean mass, however, the increase in white females was not significant. No differences were found between black and white females in all strength variables at both testing periods. Black males were significantly stronger than white males in bench press/body mass only at the initial-recruit test. White males showed a significant increase in bench press/body mass over time, but they did not reach the strength level of the black males at in-service. Police departments, with a properly designed physical fitness program, can expect to see increases in strength of personnel over the first half of their careers; however, there are gender and racial differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]