Table 5.
The correlation between physical fitness and occupational performance in firefighters.
| Outcome | No. of Studies | No. of Participants | R (95% CI) | Z Score | p (Overall Effect) | Heterogeneity I2; Cohen’s Q; p | Egger’s Test Intercept (95%CI); p |
Begg’s Test (τ; p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiorespiratory fitness | 11 | 946 | −0.584 (−0.671 to −0.482) | −9.132 | <0.001 ** | 72.9%; 36.96; <0.001 | −2.52 (−4.80 to 0.23); 0.034 | −0.18; 0.432 |
| Gas analysis | 5 | 207 | −0.672 (−0.743 to −0.587) | −11.295 | <0.001 | 0.0%; 3.98; 0.407 | 1.17 (−3.72 to 6.07); 0.501 | 0.40; 0.327 |
| Sequential tasks | 8 | 635 | −0.589 (−0.682 to −0.476) | −8.390 | <0.001 ** | 64.1%; 19.49; 0.007 | −2.05 (−4.65 to 0.53); 0.099 | −0.29; 0.322 |
| Five or more tasks | 6 | 525 | −0.571 (−0.680 to −0.438) | −7.074 | <0.001 ** | 61.9%; 13.11; 0.022 | −1.99 (−4.88 to 0.91); 0.129 | −0.33; 0.348 |
| Males | 7 | 281 | −0.596 (−0.675 to −0.505) | −10.260 | <0.001 ** | 9.9%; 6.66; 0.353 | −0.72 (−4.04 to 2.59); 0.599 | −0.19; 0.538 |
| Males and females | 4 | 665 | −0.566 (−0.709 to −0.378) | −5.161 | <0.001 ** | 88.2%; 25.46; <0.001 | −7.31 (−15.92 to 1.29); 0.067 | −0.33; 0.497 |
| Weight of PPE | 7 | 678 | −0.551 (−0.660 to −0.419) | −7.005 | <0.001 ** | 68.3%; 18.94; 0.004 | −2.15 (−4.61 to 0.31); 0.075 | −0.09; 0.758 |
| Full-time only | 7 | 449 | −0.605 (−0.729 to −0.443) | −6.094 | <0.001 ** | 75.0%; 24.0390; <0.001 | −2.39 (−0.60 to 1.25); 0.152 | 0.00; 1.000 |
| Upper body endurance | 6 | 387 | −0.344 (−0.430 to −0.251) | −6.886 | <0.001 ** | 0.0%; 3.49; 0.624 | 1.13 (−4.07 to 6.33); 0.579 | 0.33; 0.348 |
| Weight of PPE | 4 | 256 | −0.363 (−0.467 to −0.250) | −5.949 | <0.002 ** | 0.0%; 1.3; 0.770 | −7.6 (−8.63 to 7.11); 0.717 | −0.33; 0.497 |
| Full−time only | 4 | 268 | −0.324 (−0.430 to −0.209) | −5.318 | <0.001 ** | 1.9%; 3.06; 0.383 | 4.30 (−9.22 to 17.82); 0.305 | 0.33; 0.497 |
| Abdominal endurance | 8 | 871 | −0.308 (−0.367 to −0.246) | −9.256 | <0.001 ** | 0.0%; 3.62; 0.822 | −0.05 (−1.65 to 1.54); 0.939 | 0.14; 0.621 |
| Five or more tasks | 5 | 587 | −0.333 (−0.403 to −0.258) | −8.267 | <0.001 ** | 0.0%; 2.22; 0.696 | −0.9 (−3.33 to 3.13); 0.929 | 0.00; 1.000 |
| Sequential tasks | 5 | 254 | −0.320 (−0.428 to −0.202) | −5.121 | <0.001 ** | 0.0%; 1.60; 0.808 | 1.38 (−1.35 to 4.11); 0.206 | 0.60; 0.142 |
| Males only | 5 | 323 | −0.349 (−0.443 to −0.247) | −6.391 | <0.001 ** | 0.0%; 2.01; 0.733 | 2.24 (−1.36 to 5.8); 0.142 | 0.60; 0.142 |
| Weight of PPE | 5 | 740 | −0.296 (−0.361 to −0.229) | −8.212 | <0.001 ** | 0.0%; 2.38; 0.795 | 0.09 (−1.89 to 2.09); 0.089 | 0.07; 0.851 |
| Full-time only | 5 | 446 | −0.294 (−0.377 to −0.205) | −6.284 | <0.001 ** | 0.0%; 1.82; 0.768 | −0.52 (−3.22 to 2.18); 0.584 | 0.00; 1.000 |
| Grip strength | 6 | 258 | −0.421 (−0.602 to −0.198) | −5.086 | <0.001 ** | 68.6%; 15.92; 0.007 | 0.59 (−4.30 to 5.48); 0.754 | −0.07; 0.851 |
| Five or more tasks | 4 | 502 | −0.439 (−0.578 to −0.274) | −4.882 | <0.001 ** | 68.9%; 9.67; 0.022 | 1.39 (−9.64 to 12.42); 0.642 | 0.67; 0.174 |
| Males only | 5 | 258 | −0.421 (−0.602 to −0.198) | −3.542 | <0.001 ** | 71.1%; 13.84; 0.008 | 0.59 (−430 to 5.48); 0.754 | −0.07; 0.851 |
| Weight of PPE | 5 | 522 | −0.473 (−0.604 to −0.317) | −5.420 | <0.001 ** | 66.9%; 12.07; 0.017 | −0.11 (−6.30 to 6.09); 0.959 | −0.20; 0.624 |
| Full-time only | 4 | 225 | −0.406 (−0.625 to −0.127) | −2.790 | 0.005 ** | 77.5; 13.31; 0.004 | −1.38 (−21.05 to 18.29); 0.791 | 0.00; 1.000 |
| Upper body strength | 8 | 814 | −0.318 (−0.380 to −0.254) | −5.756 | <0.001 ** | 57.7%; 16.53; 0.207 | −1.51 (−4.29 to 1.27); 0.232 | −0.29; 0.320 |
| Five or more tasks | 5 | 530 | −0.374 (−0.446 to −0.298) | −8.931 | <0.001 ** | 5.1; 4.21; 0.378 | −1.26 (−4.36 to 1.85); 0.288 | −0.20; 0.624 |
| Sequential tasks | 6 | 572 | −0.357 (−0.428 to −0.283) | −8.802 | <0.001 ** | 28.7; 7.01; 0.219 | −0.42 (−3.82 to 2.98); 0.750 | −0.06; 0.851 |
| Males only | 6 | 286 | −0.421 (−0.540 to −0.266) | −5.183 | <0.001 ** | 42.4%; 8.68; 0.122 | −0.83 (−6.93 to 5.28); 0.726 | −0.20; 0.573 |
| Weight of PPE | 6 | 683 | −0.339 (−0.449 to −0.219) | −5.321 | <0.001 ** | 50.2; 10.04; 0.074 | −1.89 (−4.52 to 0.74); 0.116 | −0.60; 0.091 |
| Full-time only | 5 | 389 | −0.313 (−0.470 to −0.137) | −3.409 | 0.001 ** | 57.5%; 9.40; 0.052 | −2.40 (−6.17 to 1.37); 0.136 | −0.80; 0.050 |
| Lower body strength | 3 | 122 | −0.216 (−0.383 to −0.0349) | −2.331 | 0.020 * | 0.0%; 0.27; 0.876 | −0.22 (−12.99 to 12.55); 0.863 | −0.33; 0.602 |
| Five or more tasks | 2 | 102 | −0.201 (−0.383 to −0.003) | −1.992 | 0.046 * | 0.0%; 0.10; 0.749 | 1.01 (--); <0.001 | 1.00; 0.317 |
| Full-time only | 2 | 92 | −0.236 (−0.424 to −0.029) | −2.232 | 0.026 * | 0.0%; 0.10; 0.751 | −0.70 (--); <0.001 | −1.00; 0.317 |
| Flexibility | 4 | 233 | −0.099 (−0.227 to 0.032) | −1.479 | 0.139 | 0.0%; 2.05; 0.560 | −2.58 (−8.81 to 3.64); 0.216 | −0.67; 0.174 |
Note: * indicates statistical significance <0.05; ** indicates statistical significance <0.01. (--)—indicated insufficient studies present to perform Egger’s test. PPE—personal protective equipment; italics – indicates subgroup analysis.