Journal of occupational rehabilitation
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The extent to which baseline psychological measures, pain, and compensation status are related to admission and posttreatment functional capacity and employment outcome was investigated. Four pass/fail functional capacity tests based on the DOT (Dictionary of Occupational Titles) classification system and previously shown to be predictive of treatment outcome in chronic pain patients were analyzed in relation to baseline measures of depression, state and trait anxiety, and perceived stress. Statistical tests of all measures with employment level at admission to treatment, 1 month follow-up and at long-term follow-up were also performed. ⋯ In conclusion, these results suggest that psychological variables are related to measures of functional capacity measured at admission. However, psychological measures at admission are not good predictors of later functional capacity measures. Functional capacity measures are important predictors of follow-up employment outcome, but return to work cannot be predicted without taking pain into account.
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Comparative Study
Test-retest reliability of the Isernhagen Work Systems Functional Capacity Evaluation in patients with chronic low back pain.
The aim of this study was to investigate test-retest reliability of the Isernhagen Work System Functional Capacity Evaluation (IWS FCE) in a sample of patients (n = 30) suffering from Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) and selected for rehabilitation treatment. The IWS FCE consists of 28 tests that reflect work-related activities like lifting, carrying, bending, etc. In this study, a slightly modified IWS FCE was used. ⋯ Tests of the IWC FCE were divided into tests with and tests without an acceptable test-retest reliability on the basis of the kappa values, the percentage of absolute agreement and the ICC values. Fifteen tests (79%) showed an acceptable test-retest reliability based on Kappa values and percentage of absolute agreement. Eleven tests (61%) showed an acceptable test-retest reliability based on ICC values.