Relevance of normative values for functional capacity evaluation

Background: Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCEs) are evaluations designed to measure capacity to perform activities and are used to make recommendations for participation in work. Normative values of healthy working subjects' performances are unavailable, thus patients' performances cannot be compared to those values. Objective: To establish normative values for FCE of healthy working subjects. Methods: Healthy subjects working in over 180 professions performed an FCE consisting of 12 work-related tests. Subjects were classified into categories based on physical demands according to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). Means, ranges, standard deviations, percentiles were calculated and a regression analyses for outcome of the 12 tests was performed. Results: Normative FCE values of 701 healthy working subjects (448 male, 253 female) were established for 4 physical demand categories. Conclusion: The normative values enable comparison of patients' performances to these values. If the patients' performances exceed the lowest scores in his/her corresponding demand category, the patients' capacity is very likely to be sufficient to defy the work load. Further, clinicians can make more precise return to work recommendations and set goals for rehabilitation programs. Comparisons to normative values are useful for the fields of rehabilitation, occupational and insurance medicine. Further research is needed to test validity of the normative references with respect to work place assessments and return to work recommendations