Tomada de decisão e agilidade em militares fuzileiros navais: um estudo piloto

Abstract

Introduction: Agility is a response to a stimulus with rapid movement of the whole body and change of speed. It is directly related to some trainable traits, such as strength and technique, and cognitive components such as the ability to visual sweep and anticipation. In the real situation of the Armed Forces, similar to the daily activity of the Military Police, military Marines need to respond quickly to unexpected stimuli, especially in Law and Order Assurance (GLO, in portuguese) operations in urban environments, when concentration, speed and agility, since in a condition of high stress or threat are expected failures of perception and information, and in seconds the military has to make a decision. The inclusion of activities to increase the agility of the military is of great interest to the Navy, as this is required in current military operations, where the need for reaction to surprises is evident. Objective: To investigate the association between the Square Test in Brazilian Marine Corps soldiers and the speed of reaction to decision making. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study to correlate the results of the cognitive task of inhibitory control in decision making (Stroop Test), such as the accuracy and number of correct answers, with the results of the agility test (Square Test). All stages of the study took place at the Almirante Adalberto Nunes Physical Education Center (CEFAN), of the Brazilian Navy. The evaluations were made in two days: anthropometric evaluation and Square Test on the first day, and the Stroop Test on the second day. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics 20.0 software for Windows. Results: The descriptive analysis of the results was: (mean ± standard deviation: age 34.9 ± 3.2 years, total body mass 81.49 ± 7.19 kg, height 1.74 ± 0.04 m, Body Mass Index 26 .8 ± 2.1, Square Test 6.75 ± 0.32 s, number of correct answers on Stroop Test 173.14 ± 46.79, Accuracy 89.44 ± 12.47%, mean time per score 1, 89 ± 0.67 s, and average response time 1.62 ± 0.32 s). The correlation coefficient between Square Test time and Stroop Test variables was: (number of correct answers r = -0.39, Accuracy r = -0.27, mean score time r = 0.36, and time correct answers (r = 0.37). Conclusion: It was found that there is no correlation between the evaluated variables. However, further studies with a larger number of participants are necessary to confirm the association between the Square Test and the speed of reaction for decision making.