Association of Anthropometric Characteristics of Law Enforcement Officers with Perceived Ratings of Fit, Comfort, and Pain in the Use of Body Armor.

Knowledge gaps exist on association between law enforcement officer (LEO) anthropometric characteristics and perceived body armor fit, armor discomfort, and armor-caused pain. This study assessed the correlation and identified influential torso dimensions for armor sizing and design applications. Nine-hundreds and seventy-four LEOs across the U.S. participated in a national study on LEO armor use and body dimensions. Perceived ratings of armor fit, armor discomfort, and body pain were found moderately correlated with each other. In addition, armor fit ratings were associated with certain torso anthropometric characteristics, such as chest circumference, chest breadth, chest depth, waist circumference, waist breadth (sitting), waist front length (sitting), body weight, and body mass index. LEOs who reported armor poor fit, armor discomfort, and armor-caused pain had a larger mean of body dimensions than the "armor good fit" group. More women than men had poor fit, discomfort, and body pain in the use of body armor. Practitioner summary: The identified influential body measurements can be used as the "drivers" for multivariate analyses to develop an improved armor sizing system to further LEO protection. The study also suggests consideration of gender specific armor sizing systems to accommodate differences in torso configurations between male and female officers and to resolve the concern that more female officers had poor armor fit than male officers.