Affiliations: Occupational Therapy, School of Health & Human
Sciences, Southern Cross University, Tweed Heads, NSW, Australia | CRS Australia
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Ev Innes, Occupational Therapy,
School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Tweed Gold
Coast Campus (Lakeside), Locked Mail Bag 4,
Coolangatta, QLD, 4225, Australia. Tel.: +61 7 5506 9252; Fax: +61 7 5506 9260;
E-mail: ev.innes@scu.edu.au
Abstract: Objective: Men under 25 years are at high risk of back injuries
caused by manual handling. Self reports and functional capacity evaluations are
commonly used to determine a worker's lifting capacity, however, amongst
uninjured individuals, conflicting views exist regarding how perceived physical
functioning matches actual functioning in the absence of fear of pain and/or
re-injury. The aim of this study was to compare self-reports and actual lifting
performance in a group of healthy young men aged 18–25 years. Method/participants: A correlational prospective design compared perceived
lifting capacity, using self-report and the Spinal Function Sort, and actual
lifting capacity, using the EPIC Lift Capacity test in 31 subjects. Results: Subjects' self-reported lifting capacity varied more widely than
their actual scores, indicating that they were less accurate at predicting
their lifting performance using the self-report measure. One third of subjects
were able to accurately self-report their lifting performance, approximately
one-third underestimated, and the remaining third overestimated their lifting
ability. Only two significant relationships were identified between
self-reported and actual lifting performance for frequent knuckle-shoulder and
floor-shoulder lifts. These correlations were weak and well below the 0.75
level considered necessary to be clinically significant. Conclusions: This study found that self-report measures are not suitable when used in
isolation. It is therefore recommended that self-report measures are used in
conjunction with functional capacity evaluations to determine lifting
capacity.
Keywords: Perceived lifting, self-report measure, lifting assessment, young men
