Functional movement screen test: a reliable screening test for young elite ice hockey players

Abstract

Objectives: To determine inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) test among young elite hockey players.

Design: Reliability study.

Setting: Inter-rater reliability was evaluated by two raters in the field. All performances were videotaped. Two other raters evaluated the videos once and then again 6 weeks later to determine intra-rater reliability. A weighted kappa statistic was used to analyze intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of each FMS sub-test, while an intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated for the total score.

Participants: Twenty-eight male hockey players aged 13-16.

Main outcome: FMS total and sub-tests scores.

Results: The video raters demonstrated excellent intra-rater reliability for the total score, with an ICC of 0.96 (95% CI; 0.92-0.98) and 0.96 (95% CI; 0.91-0.98). The field raters achieved excellent inter-rater reliability for the total score, with an ICC of 0.96 (95% CI; 0.92-0.98). Sub-test analysis showed good agreement among all four raters for five of the seven main sub-tests.

Conclusion: FMS is a reliable test for young elite hockey players. Further research should be done to assess the predictive validity of the FMS test within this population so that physiotherapists may eventually use it as an injury prevention tool.

Keywords: Functional test; Ice hockey; Reliability.