Absolute vs. weight-related maximum oxygen uptake in firefighters: fitness evaluation with and without protective clothing and self-contained breathing apparatus among age group.

Fabrizio Perroni,Lamberto Cignitti,Carlo Baldari,Laura Guidetti,Anna Nolan

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0119757

Fabrizio Perroni, Lamberto Cignitti + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119757

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Mar 12, 2015
Citations: 12	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Foro Italico University of Rome, University of Turin

Abstract

During fire emergencies, firefighters wear personal protective devices (PC) and a self-contained breathing apparatus (S.C.B.A.) to be protected from injuries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of aerobic level in 197 firefighters (age: 34±7 yr; BMI: 24.4±2.3 kg.m-2), evaluated by a Queen’s College Step field Test (QCST), performed with and without fire protective garments, and to analyze the differences among age groups (<25 yr; 26-30 yr, 31-35 yr, 36-40 yr and >40 yr). Variance analysis was applied to assess differences (p < 0.05) between tests and age groups observed in absolute and weight-related values, while a correlation was examined between QCST with and without PC+S.C.B.A. The results have shown that a 13% of firefighters failed to complete the test with PC+S.C.B.A. and significant differences between QCST performed with and without PC+S.C.B.A. in absolute (F(1,169) = 42.6, p < 0.0001) and weight-related (F(1,169) = 339.9, p < 0.0001) terms. A better correlation has been found in L•min-1 (r=0.67) than in ml•kg-1•min-1 (r=0.54). Moreover, we found significant differences among age groups both in absolute and weight-related values. The assessment of maximum oxygen uptake of firefighters in absolute term can be a useful tool to evaluate the firefighters' cardiovascular strain.

Highlights

The higher percentage differences were observed between 26–30 yr vs 31–35 yr and between 36–40 yr vs >40 in test performed with protective devices (PC)+S.C.B.A. both in absolute (9.5% and 5.3%, respectively) and weight related (7.7% and 6.0%, respectively) terms
The main findings of this study were the statistical differences between tests performed with and without PC+S.C.B.A. in Italian firefighters recruits and a high correlation between test observed in absolute value
Given that 1) in this study we have found a large correlation coefficient between tests performed with and without PC+ S.C.B.A observed in L min-1 (r = 0.67), 2) Perroni et al [8] found the same values as in our test performed with PC+ S.C.B.A. observed in absolute rate and 3) the absolute VO2max does not take into account the body weight of subjects and the heavy PC+S.C.B.A., we suggest that the Queen’s College Step field Test (QCST) performed with PC+ S.C.B.A. observed in absolute term can be an useful tool to evaluate the cardiovascular strain of the firefighters

Summary

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of aerobic level in 197 firefighters, evaluated by a Queen’s College Step field Test (QCST), performed with and without fire protective garments, and to analyze the differences among age groups (40 yr)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion