Relationships Between Heart Rate Variability, Occupational Performance, and Fitness for Tactical Personnel: A Systematic Review

Field Monitoring the Effects of Overnight Shift Work on Specialist Tactical Police Training with Heart Rate Variability Analysis

“…Overall, the data presented in the study agree with previous literature assessing HRV in tactical personnel [15], indicating that research in this highly specialized population may be generalizable to other tactical units such as fire departments, which are increasingly utilizing specialist teams, and general duties police, a population which this collateral duties unit still incorporates. Specifically in regards to extant literature, two previous stud-ies with similar methodological approaches in two very different geographical locations (Finland and Portugal), both found that first responder teams assigned to rescue duties overnight, which included tasks such as motor vehicle accident response, experienced significantly different HRV changes when the same teams were assigned to more typical fire suppression duties [14,20].…”

“…This main finding agrees with previous research investigating the effects of shift work on stress regulation in tactical personnel, in which the authors found significant changes in HRV not only when personnel were required to work overnight, but between shifts that required different job tasks and duties [34]. The relationships between overnight shift work, specific job tasks unique to tactical professionals, and stress regulation are in need of further investigation Previous studies in healthcare workers found only limited changes in HRV during overnight shifts [35], whereas the effects in tactical personnel are more pronounced [15].…”

“…While the relationship between allostasis and shift work in tactical populations is still emerging, shift work appears to be a significant contributing factor to cardioregulatory changes that may contribute to allostasis in tactical personnel [14], and the nature of tactical work appears to have effects on healthy dynamic regulatory responses that other professions working overnight shifts do not experience to the same extent [15]. It is possible that overnight shift work and the nature of stress in tactical environments act synergistically to impart extraordinary levels of physiological and psychosocial demand [15]. These stressors, if manifesting as allostatic load, may explain the known elevated incidence of heart disease among first responders [16,17].…”

Non-invasive assessment of short and ultra-short heart rate variability during different physical and physiological tests

“…Researchers are continuing to link HRV domains to physical performance under different conditions and durations. On the other hand, the measurement of non-invasive HRV data is also available and interpretable by coaches and athletes in athletic performance setting (Tomes, Schram, & Orr, 2020). Questions remain, however, regarding the precise understanding of the effect of different physical activities on HRV changes under different durations such as short-term and ultra-short-term.…”

The Acute Readiness Monitoring Scale: Assessing Predictive and Concurrent Validation

“…In the context of such findings, these biomarkers of readiness (HRV and cortisol) provide an opportunity to validate the ARMS against measures that have been reported to be sensitive to fluctuations in readiness resulting from sleep deprivation. Further, HRV and cortisol are commonly implemented biomarkers of the physiological stress response to sleep deprivation in athletic and military settings (Gabbett et al, 2017;Tomes et al, 2020). Therefore, the second aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the ARMS and biological markers of readiness including cortisol and HRV.…”