There have been requests for shorter FCEs, more specifically aimed at the work that the disabled worker is expected to do (Frings-Dresen and Sluiter 2003) or targeting the specific impairment in regional disorders (Gross et al. 2006; Soer et al. 2006). However, this study shows selleck compound clearly that FCE information leads

IPs to change their judgment even on activities not directly related to the underlying disorder and that IPs still regard this information as having complementary value. This is an argument for continuing the use of full FCEs. It is also noteworthy that the groups of claimants in whose assessment IPs indicated JPH203 that FCE information would form a useful supplement largely presented problems of general physical functioning. Use of BIRB 796 ic50 a full FCE would therefore seem to be called for in the assessment of such cases. Finally, the practical implications of this study should be discussed. The positive evaluation of FCE information expressed by IPs in the study population argues for the introduction of FCE as a part of the disability claim assessment procedure, especially for those groups of claimants for which IPs think that FCE information yields maximum results. However, this study is based solely on the judgment of IPs towards the complementary value of FCE information. The prognostic value of FCE as a routine instrument in disability claim assessments

has yet to be established. Acknowledgments We would like to thank all functional capacity evaluation raters, insurance physicians and claimants who participated in this study. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. References

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