title: Functional Capacity Evaluation Research: Report from the Second International Functional Capacity Evaluation Research Meeting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Functional capacity evaluations are an important component of many occupational rehabilitation programs and can play a role in facilitating reintegration to work thus improving health and disability outcomes. The field of functional capacity evaluation (FCE) research has continued to develop over recent years, with growing evidence on the reliability, validity and clinical utility of FCE within different patient and healthy worker groups. The second International FCE Research Conference was held in Toronto, Canada on October 2nd 2014 adjacent to the 2014 Work Disability Prevention Integration conference. This paper describes the outcomes of the conference.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-four participants from nine countries attended the conference where eleven research projects and three workshops were presented. The conference provided an opportunity to discuss FCE practice, present new research and provide a forum for discourse around the issues pertinent to FCE use. Conference presentations covered aspects of FCE use including the ICF-FCE interface, aspects of reliability and validity, consideration of specific injury populations, comparisons of FCE components and a lively debate on the merits of 'Man versus Machine' in FCE's.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Researchers, clinicians, and other professionals in the FCE area have a common desire to improve the content and quality of FCE research and to collaborate to further develop research across systems, cultures and countries.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia. Carole.James@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Center for Rehabilitation, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Reneman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Gross
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D000066768:Rehabilitation Research / Q000379:methods*; D062707:Return to Work; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation
keywords: Disability evaluation; Functional capacity evaluation; Work assessment