Common law enforcement load carriage systems have limited acute effects on postural stability and muscle activity.

Appl Ergon

Sports Medicine Assessment Research & Testing (SMART) Laboratory, VA, USA; School of Kinesiology, George Mason University, VA, USA. Electronic address:

Published: November 2023

AI Article Synopsis

  • Law enforcement officers face a high risk of injury partly due to the heavy loads they carry, and this study investigates how different load carrying systems impact their muscular activity and postural stability.
  • Twenty-four participants were tested while standing with three different load conditions: a duty belt, a tactical vest, and no load, during both single and dual-task scenarios involving cognitive challenges.
  • Results show that carrying the load increases muscle activity, particularly in certain muscle groups, although neither the duty belt nor tactical vest significantly affected postural stability, leaving unclear which system is better for reducing injury risk.

Article Abstract

Law enforcement officers are inherently at a high risk of injury and the loads they must carry during their occupational duties further increase their injury risk. It is unknown how different methods of carrying a law enforcement officer's load influence factors related to injury risk. This study assessed the effects of common law enforcement load carriage systems on muscular activity and postural stability while standing. Twenty-four participants performed single and dual-task (i.e. concurrent performance of cognitive tasks) standing while wearing a duty belt, tactical vest, and no load. The postural stability and muscle activity were measured and effects of condition and task examined. Dual task standing decreased postural stability and increased muscular activity. The belt and vest (7.2 kg each) increased muscle activity compared to control for the right abdominals, low back, right thigh. The duty belt resulted in less muscle activity in the right abdominals but more muscle activity in the left multifidus compared to the control. The findings indicate that common law enforcement load carriage systems increase muscular activity but do not affect postural stability. However, the lack of differences between the duty belt and tactical vest did not provide clear support for one load carriage system versus the other.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2023.104091DOI Listing

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