The effects of mass, bulk and stiffness of personal protective equipment and clothing on physical performance when performing a military mobility obstacle course
| Autor: | Kaj Gijsbertse, Milène Catoire, Arend Woering, Lotte Linssen |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Computer science Survivability Physical Therapy Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Human Factors and Ergonomics 03 medical and health sciences Vertical jump 0302 clinical medicine Protective Clothing Heart Rate medicine Humans 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Safety Risk Reliability and Quality Engineering (miscellaneous) Personal protective equipment Personal Protective Equipment 050107 human factors Simulation Rating of perceived exertion tv.genre business.industry Obstacle course 05 social sciences Stiffness Physical Functional Performance Clothing 030210 environmental & occupational health tv Military Personnel Obstacle medicine.symptom business |
| Zdroj: | Applied ergonomics. 95 |
| ISSN: | 1872-9126 |
| Popis: | Soldiers are required to conduct tasks and operations in physically demanding situations, where the ability to move (mobility) quickly is important to lethality and survivability. This study employed a specially designed suit to try to isolate the main mass property characteristics of personal protective clothing/equipment (PPCE) including mass, bulk and stiffness as much as possible and evaluated their effects on soldier performance across operationally-relevant mobility tasks.Eight male military subjects performed the load effects assessment program (LEAP) obstacle course while wearing 7 different configurations of specifically designed suit: unencumbered (control), 10 kg mass, 30 kg mass, 20 L bulk, medium stiffness, high stiffness and a mixed configuration consisting of 10 kg mass, 20 L bulk and medium stiffness. The primary outcome measure was total LEAP completion time. Additionally, heart rate, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), range of motion and vertical jump heights were measured and related to LEAP performance.All configurations degraded or tended to degrade the total LEAP completion times (p-value 0.05), except for the medium stiffness configuration. Heart rate did not differ significantly between configurations, while RPE scores of configurations 30 kg and mix were significantly higher compared to control (p 0.01).Mass, bulk and stiffness all negatively influence LEAP obstacle performance. Therefore, all three have to be considered when trying to reduce the physical burden on soldiers. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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