08. Blood Pressure Response in Police Officers

Background: Law enforcement agencies have started transitioning from a traditional duty belt to load bearing vests to reduce hip and back pain. However, research has yet to examine the effect of blood pressure between the two apparatuses. Purpose: To determine changes in systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) with a load bearing vest compared to a traditional duty belt. Methods: Twenty-one law enforcement officers had blood pressure measured for three randomized sets of trials: seated and standing with a duty belt (13.6 kg), seated and standing with a vest (13.6 kg), and seated and standing without any apparatus. Results: DBP was higher when seated with a vest than seated with a belt (+2.6 mmHg). After separating by Body Mass Index (BMI), the obese group (n=11) had higher SBP (control +14.9 mmHg, belt +11.4 mmHg, vest +8.7 mmHg) and MAP (control +12.4 mmHg, belt +8.3 mmHg, vest +5.9 mmHg) compared to the normal/overweight (n=10) participants when standing. Compared to no apparatus, normal/overweight officers’ SBP increased with the belt (+6.7 mmHg) when standing, and had a higher SBP and MAP with a vest (+10.6 mmHg and 8.4 mmHg). Obese officers showed no changes in blood pressure between the trials. Conclusion: When including all participants, the duty belt and load bearing vest resulted in similar blood pressure responses. Although, a normal/overweight BMI lead to an increase in SBP and MAP while standing with a belt and vest, there was no difference in the apparatuses while standing in the obese group