Reliability of Safe Maximum Lifting Determinations of a Functional Capacity Evaluation

Background and Purpose. Functional capacity evaluations (FCEs) are measurement tools used in predicting readiness to return to work following injury. The interrater and test-retest reliability of determinations of maximal safe lifting during kinesiophysical FCEs were examined in a sample of people w...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical therapy Vol. 82; no. 4; pp. 364 - 371
Main Authors Gross, Douglas P, Battie, Michele C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Physical Therapy Association 01.04.2002
Oxford University Press
Subjects
Adult
Aged
Back pain
Backache
Biomechanical Phenomena
Care and treatment
Disability Evaluation
Female
Humans
Lifting and carrying
Low Back Pain - physiopathology
Low Back Pain - rehabilitation
Male
Middle Aged
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy
Physical Therapy Modalities - standards
Physiological aspects
Practice
Reproducibility of Results
Safety
Therapeutics, Physiological
Weight Lifting
Work measurement
Workers compensation
United States
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0031-9023
1538-6724
DOI10.1093/ptj/82.4.364

Cover

More Information
Summary:Background and Purpose. Functional capacity evaluations (FCEs) are measurement tools used in predicting readiness to return to work following injury. The interrater and test-retest reliability of determinations of maximal safe lifting during kinesiophysical FCEs were examined in a sample of people who were off work and receiving workers' compensation. Subjects. Twenty-eight subjects with low back pain who had plateaued with treatment were enrolled. Five occupational therapists, trained and experienced in kinesiophysical methods, conducted testing. Methods. A repeated-measures design was used, with raters testing subjects simultaneously, yet independently. Subjects were rated on 2 occasions, separated by 2 to 4 days. Analyses included intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and 95% confidence intervals. Results. The ICC values for interrater reliability ranged from .95 to .98. Test-retest values ranged from .78 to .94. Discussion and Conclusion. Inconsistencies in subjects' performance across sessions were the greatest source of FCE measurement variability. Overall, however, test-retest reliability was good and interrater reliability was excellent.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ObjectType-Article-2
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0031-9023
1538-6724
DOI:10.1093/ptj/82.4.364