Are The Current The Brazilian Air Force Physical Fitness Test Cut-points Outdated? An Update Of The Score Requirements

ntroduction: The Brazilian Air Force (BAF) physical fitness test (PFT) was developed three decades ago and the cut points were established by percentile categorization. These cut points seem to be outdated and less demanding in comparison to other Air Forces in worldwide. In fact, the last PFT analyses have shown that only 5.0% of the militaries have failed the test. The aim of the present study was to update the PFT cut points and adjust age groups according to health risk paradigm. Methods: The PFT results from all BAF military units collected during the last 8 years were selected to compose the analyses (n = 300.000). Data from maximal performance in push-ups, sit-ups/1minute and distance covered in 12 minutes running test were evaluated. They were separated by sex and age and were adjusted by percentiles (0-5, 6-29, 30-80, 81-95 and 96-100) according to the current BAF PFT standards. Thereafter new clusters of ages were determined. They were selected using a regression analysis and the clusters were separated when the slope of the relationship age vs. performance was significantly different from zero (student t-test, p<0.05). Results: The slope analysis considered the following new age groups: ≤20,21-30,31-34,35-38,39-41,42-43,44-49,50-52,≥53 for male push-up; ≤29,30-40,41-44,≥45 for female push-up and ≤27,28-30,31-33,34-35,36- 38,39-41,42-44,45-50,≥50 for male sit-up;≤23,24-25,26-28,29-30,31-34,35-38,39-41,42-45,46-49,≥50 for female sit-up. The analysis of the data distribution and percentiles demonstrated that current cut-points of the push-up and sit-up tests were underestimated. The new adjustment increased the performance requirements in 50-100% for push- up and sit ups tests in both sex categories (Table 1). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the current cut points of the BAF PFT are outdated and presents poor relation with health risk meaning. The methodological approach applied in the present study corrected the distortion and resemble them to other Air Forces PFT standards. In addition, the alteration of the age clusters, in both genders, attenuated the impact of age on performance. It is expected that new standards may contribute to the enhancement of the physical fitness performance in the BAF militaries personnel.

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