What Is An FCE Test?

stevedell · 05-31-2005, 08:11 AM

AM SCHEDULED FOR AN FCE NEXT WEEK AND WAS WONDERING WHAT GOES ON AT THESE TEST AND WHY DO THEY TAKE SO LONG ( 2 DAYS ). IC WANTS THE TEST DONE BEFORE WE GO TO A PRETRIAL SETTLEMENT. I DONT KNOW WHAT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO PROVE AS I HAVE NOT RECIEVED ANY PT OR SURGERY THAT MY DR SAYS I NEED. ANY HELP WOULD BE NICE . THANX IN ADVANCE .

aj · 05-31-2005, 08:21 AM

It is a Functional Capacity Evaluation. It is supposed to provide the permanent restrictions. Make sure the person performing this is CARF certified.

mjc · 05-31-2005, 02:23 PM

One word of advice for you. If you have any other medical problems like hypertension, cardiac problems,etc. let them know because you will need to be cleared by your doctor before they perform the FCE. Just a word of advice in case you have other medical conditions. I went through this and when I showed up for the FCE and they started doing my history they immediately called WC and said they could not do it without a cardiology clearance. That was the end of that. Take care!
MJC

frank · 05-31-2005, 11:31 PM

I took the same tests and they needed to keep stopping the test because my heartrate kept climbing too high.

The test (for me) was a series of tasks which included crawling, walking, lifting weights and hand eye coorindation abilities (sorting pegs)

My guess is that the test is more for their benifit than it is for yours.

edk · 06-01-2005, 10:51 AM

rapid heart rate = pain
they use that to monitor the level of pain you are in.
I had an exam by a PT that indicated range of motion muscle tone etc then the FCE was a set up work station of sorts, you went from one staion to the next. They had me lifting boxes from different hights and placing them on different level shelves. When you are using your knees to get them up or balancing the box on your shoulder they tend to stop that part of the test. The therapists I had did not want you injurred by the test. There was everything from fine motor skills to bending to strength testing.

They will evaluate what you can do and how often you should do it ie not at all, infrequently all the time etc.

rob · 06-01-2005, 02:25 PM

Along the lines of this test....I often hear the question posed to be "can it be done", the work in ones job description. Does the question "should it be done" ever come into play? There are lots of things a person can do that they shouldn't be doing, after all they spend a lot of money trying to find you doing just such things. I imagine these tests, if done fairly, could be very usefull. Before I started physical therapy I was told they would do a good job of imitating stuff I do at work. I was/am very anxious to do stuff like that to see where I'm at. Unfortunately the stuff I did at therapy was very generic and not much of a test for the heavy lifting I do at work, not just lifting, but doing it while maintaining my balance at what can be extreme heights working off small platforms.

I hope the test goes well and is an honest test of where things are but have my suspicions the results are already in. Damn, I used to be so optimistic

The timing makes little sense if treatment suggested by the Doc hasn't taken place. Is the IC suggesting there is no injury or treatment wouldn't help? Again, I'm baffled by how this system works.

stevedell · 06-01-2005, 06:39 PM

thanks for all your help. Ihave become very wary of anything the IC has told me. it seems they dont have a problem providing narcotics to me but they have a real problem letting me have any treatment that could possilby help.My pt was cut -out more than three mths ago but they still allow me to get pain pills all the time . i tried to explain that i dont want to be relying on "drugs" to compensate for the pain. i am a recovering alcaholic with 6yrs sober and really dont want to go there. again thanks for everything and i will keep you informed. steve

pooh · 06-01-2005, 06:48 PM

Rob

The FCE test results do tend to come back rather quickly. Alot of the reason is because most of it is computerized. Even if you are unable to complete the task they have to type in the reason why at that time.

How does the FCE affect your work comp case - I am not sure. Mine says that I was only able to do "light duty" type of work. I didn't have to do the crawling part of the test - because of a back injury - instead they had me walk around for about 20 minutes to see how I did pain wise.

With high blood pressure - they don't care much - fast pulse rate is different - they freaked with mine being 99 at the start of the test. This has actually been normal for me especially after having high pain days. They tell you not do something if it hurts - then they count it against you if you know you can't do it and decline to do it. That's what happened with me on the weight parts of the test. My ortho on my shoulder says no more than 10 lbs because my shoulder is litterally dying which means even the slightest jar or jerk can actually break apart the humeral head that is already deteriorated. I know my limitations and I stayed within my limitations so as not to hurt my shoulders more. So don't feel that they can push you around to do more than what you know you can do. You are not suppose to hurt yourself doing the FCE - because these tests represent what you will be allowed to do for 8 hours a day.