Association between clinician-assessed lifting ability and workplace tolerance and patient self-reported pain and disability following work conditioning.

Objective: We investigated the association between clinician-assessed performance-based measures of improvement in lifting ability and workplace tolerance and patient self-reported improvement in pain and perceived disability following work conditioning (WC).

Methods: A sample of 76 patients (42 +/- 9 yrs, 21 to 60 yrs, 74% male) was selected from a retrospective database because they had lumbar spine impairments and received treatment in a WC program. Patients completed self-report surveys for perceived disability (Oswestry), pain intensity (visual analog pain scale--VAS), and pain concerns (McGill short form) before initial functional capacity evaluation (FCE) and after termination of the WC program.