Validation of the Work-Disability Physical Functional Assessment Battery

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Occupational Therapy
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Accurate assessment of physical function is crucial for work disability evaluations.
• Self-report measures like the WD-FAB aim to provide efficient functional assessments.
• Validation against clinician ratings and performance-based measures is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the validity of the WD-FAB physical function scales.
• To compare self-reported WD-FAB scores with clinician ratings.
• To assess WD-FAB validity against the performance-based Physical Work Performance Evaluation (PWPE).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 50 adults undergoing outpatient physical therapy for musculoskeletal conditions.
• Patients completed WD-FAB physical function scales (self-report) and the PWPE.
• Physical therapists also provided WD-FAB ratings as a proxy for patient function.

Main Results:

• Patient-reported WD-FAB scores moderately correlated with clinician proxy reports (R=.49-.65).
• The WD-FAB Upper Body Function scale showed moderate correlation with overall PWPE ratings.
• WD-FAB scales for Whole Body Mobility and Changing/Maintaining Body Position showed non-significant relationships with PWPE overall ratings.

Conclusions:

• Moderate evidence supports the validity of WD-FAB Upper Body Function, Whole Body Mobility, and Changing/Maintaining Body Position scales against clinician reports.
• Evidence for WD-FAB validity against the PWPE was varied across scales in this sample.
• The findings suggest potential utility of WD-FAB, particularly for upper body function assessment.