The reliability of WorkWell Systems Functional Capacity Evaluation: a systematic review.

Area of Science:

• Occupational Medicine
• Rehabilitation Science
• Ergonomics

Background:

• Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) is crucial for assessing work-related task ability in rehabilitation.
• The WorkWell Systems (WWS) FCE is widely used in German rehabilitation centers.
• This review assesses the reliability of the WWS FCE tool.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the inter-rater, intra-rater, and test-retest reliability of the WorkWell Systems (WWS) Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE).
• To evaluate the consistency and acceptability of WWS FCE measures across different performance categories.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search for studies on WWS FCE reliability.
• Extraction of item-specific reliability measures (ICC, % agreement, kappa).
• Classification of reliability measures as acceptable (ICC ≥ 0.75, % agreement ≥ 80%, kappa ≥ 0.60) or non-acceptable.

Main Results:

• 150 reliability measures were extracted from 11 studies.
• Weight handling and strength tests demonstrated high reliability (89% inter-rater, 100% intra-rater, 96% test-retest).
• Posture/mobility (67% test-retest) and locomotion (56% test-retest) tests showed lower test-retest reliability; balance tests were acceptable.

Conclusions:

• Weight handling and strength tests within the WWS FCE exhibit consistently acceptable reliability.
• Further investigation is required for posture/mobility, locomotion, and balance tests due to inconsistent findings or insufficient data.
• The WWS FCE demonstrates reliable performance for specific components, but broader validation is needed.