Validity of Pushup as predictor of success in Law Enforcement

Abstract

Selection of prospective law enforcement officers can be facilitated with the use of simple, field-expedient fitness tests. Identification of qualified candidates has been demonstrated to significantly reduce costs for work-related injuries. PURPOSE: Develop a simple, field expedient, pre-hire muscular fitness tool to predict success in effecting an arrest and other essential job functions in the form of a Criterion Task Test (CTT). METHODS: A Job Task Analysis (JTA) was conducted via survey, on-site observations and interviews of incumbent federal officers (n=1025) with the objective of creating a surrogate (CTT) for the essential function of foot pursuit and effecting arrest. Respondents were asked to provide best estimates of distances, heights and weights associated with critical and arduous tasks. SUBJECTS: Applicants (N=266, including 45 females) who presented for employment from October of 2005 through August of 2006 served as unrestricted subjects for this study. Because they had received no prior physical screening these subjects represent a sample of applicants that was not range restricted on physical ability. A test for maximum pushups in 2-minutes was administered twice, separated by one day as a reliability test to determine test-retest reliability (intraclass coefficient= 0.967, p<0.001,n = 235). RESULTS: Incumbent and supervisory personnel, (n=100) acting as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) independently reviewed and rated (acceptable or unacceptable) five representative paces of an actor performing the CTT. The cutpoint for graduation success was established through a consensus model (2/3rds agreement). A two-way contingency table for sensitivity and specificity was developed to demonstrate the predictive power of the 2-minute push-up test. There was no evidence of sex bias for any of the fitness predictors. The ability to perform pushups was highly correlated with success on the CTT (pushups predict 44% of variance in CTT, p <0 .001). Recommendations: The ability to perform a minimum of 10 push-ups correctly predicted a pass rate of 89% (sensitivity); conversely, failure identified 100% (specificity) of those who failed the CTT.