Use of accelerometers and inertial measurement units to quantify movement of tactical athletes: A systematic review
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2025
An Inertial Measurement Unit Based Method to Estimate Hip and Knee Joint Kinematics in Team Sport Athletes on the Field
Published on: May 26, 2020
Nathan A Edwards1, Maria K Talarico2, Ajit Chaudhari3
1School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, 453 W 10th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA; Human Performance Collaborative, The Ohio State University, 1961 Tuttle Park Place, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA; Sports Medicine Research Institute, The Ohio State University, 4835 Fred Taylor Drive, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
Abstract:
The dynamic work environments of tactical athletes are difficult to replicate in a laboratory. Accelerometers and inertial measurement units provide a way to characterize movement in the field. This systematic review identified how accelerometers and inertial measurement units are currently being used to quantify movement patterns of tactical athletes. Seven research and military databases were searched, producing 26,228 potential articles with 78 articles included in this review. The articles studied military personnel (73.1%), firefighters (19.2%), paramedics (3.8%), and law enforcement officers (3.8%). Accelerometers were the most used type of sensor, and physical activity was the primarily reported outcome variable. Seventy of the studies had fair or poor quality. Research on firefighters, emergency medical services, and law enforcement officers was limited. Future research should strive to make quantified movement data more accessible and user-friendly for non-research personnel, thereby prompting increased use in tactical athlete groups, especially first responder agencies.
