The effectiveness of the functional movement screen in determining injury risk in tactical occupations

• Published in: Industrial Health Vol. 57; no. 4; pp. 406 - 418
• Main Authors: KOLLOCK, Roger O., LYONS, Madeline, SANDERS, Gabe, HALE, Davis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health 01-01-2019; National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan; National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan (JNIOSH)
• Subjects: Analysis; Athletes; Demographic aspects; Diagnosis; Female; Firefighters; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Humans; Injuries; Injury analysis; Male; Military medicine; Military Personnel; Moderators; Movement; Movement (Physiology); Occupational health; Occupational Injuries - epidemiology; Occupational medicine; Occupational safety; Occupational safety and health; Occupations; Police; Predictions; Preventive medicine; Review; Risk; Risk Assessment - methods; Risk Factors; Safety and security measures; Sex Factors; Soldiers; Technical information; Work related injuries; United States; Firefighters; Military medicine; Military personnel; Preventive medicine; Occupational medicine
• ISSN: 0019-8366; 1880-8026
• DOI: 10.2486/indhealth.2018-0086

Injures are common in workers engaged in tactical occupations. Research suggests that the functional movement screen (FMS) may provide practitioners the ability to identify tactical athletes most at risk for injury. However, there exists controversy as to the effectiveness of the FMS as a tool for classifying injury risk. The purpose of the meta-analysis was to determine the predictive value of the FMS in determining injury risk in workers engaged in tactical occupations. We searched MEDLINE, Military & Government Collection (EBSCO), PubMed and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Technical Information Center databases for articles published between January 2007 and October 2017. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. Multiple random-effects model meta-analyses were conducted, with an odds ratio as the effects metric. FMS cut-off score, occupation, injury type and sex were used as moderators for the analyses. The odds of injury were greatest for tactical athletes with FMS scores ≤14. Personnel scoring ≤14 had almost 2 times the odds of injury as compared to those scoring >14. However, the magnitude of the effects were small; thus the relationship between FMS cut scores and injury prediction does not support its use as a sole predictor of injury.