title: Test-retest reliability of the Isernhagen Work Systems Functional Capacity Evaluation in healthy adults.
abstract: Aim of this study was to investigate test-retest reliability of the Isernhagen Work System Functional Capacity Evaluation (IWS FCE) in healthy subjects. The IWS FCE consists of 28 tests that reflect work-related activities such as lifting, carrying, bending, etc. A convenience sample of 26 healthy subjects participated in the study. The subjects' mean age was 34.9 years. Two FCE sessions were held within a 2-3 week interval. Descriptives per session, Intra Class Correlations (ICC), limits of agreement, Cohen's Kappa, and percentage of agreement were calculated where appropriate. An ICC of > or =0.75, a Kappa value > or =0.60, and a percentage of absolute agreement of > or =80% were considered acceptable reliability. Acceptable reliability was demonstrated for seven out of nine tests (78%) of the material handling group and the shuttle walk test based on ICC analyses only. Sixteen out of 17 criterion and ceiling tests (94%) showed acceptable reliability based on Kappa values and percentage of agreement. Of these 17 tests, 8 were eligible for further analysis, and of those 8 tests the reliability of one test was acceptable based on ICC analyses (13%). In conclusion, the test-retest reliability of the material-handling group is acceptable. Crude analyses of the ceiling and criterion tests reveal acceptable test-retest reliability of most, but not all, tests.
authors.affiliation: Center for Rehabilitation, University Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands. m.reneman@beatrixoord.nl
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Reneman
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meinema
authors.forename: P U
authors.initials: PU
authors.lastname: Dijkstra
authors.forename: J H B
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Geertzen
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Groothoff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014891:Weight Lifting / Q000502:physiology; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation; D016526:Workload / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*