Assessing work ability--a cross-sectional study of interrater agreement between disability claimants, treating physicians, and medical experts.

Objectives: It is unclear to what extent assessments of work ability differ between disability claimants, their treating physicians, and multidisciplinary medical expert teams.

Methods: We compared assessments of work ability for consecutive disability claimants referred to a multidisciplinary assessment center in Switzerland over a 4-year period. Assessments were made for the last job (LJ) prior to claiming a disability benefit and an alternative job (AJ) thought to suit the claimant's physical and mental abilities.