CVE Functional Capacity Evaluation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During a Functional Capacity Evaluation, which principle guides the evaluator when a client's self-reported pain prevents them from completing a task they appear physically capable of performing?
- Accept the limitation as valid without further testing
- Apply the concept of symptom magnification and document inconsistencies (Correct answer)
- Immediately refer the client to a psychologist
- Terminate the FCE and report malingering to the referral source
Correct answer: Apply the concept of symptom magnification and document inconsistencies
Evaluators document performance inconsistencies using standardized validity indicators rather than making definitive malingering determinations.
Question 2: Which standardized measure is most commonly used in FCEs to assess a client's level of safe material handling ability relative to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles?
- PILE test
- EPIC Lift Capacity test
- Isernhagen Work Systems FCE (Correct answer)
- WEST Standard Evaluation
Correct answer: Isernhagen Work Systems FCE
The Isernhagen Work Systems FCE is a widely used criterion-referenced battery that directly maps to DOT physical demand levels.
Question 3: A vocational evaluator conducting an FCE notes that a client's heart rate exceeds 85% of age-predicted maximum during a lifting task. The BEST course of action is to:
- Continue the task to determine the client's true physical limit
- Record the finding as a validity concern and proceed
- Stop the task and allow recovery before reassessing (Correct answer)
- Permanently exclude the client from further physical testing
Correct answer: Stop the task and allow recovery before reassessing
Exceeding 85% of age-predicted maximum heart rate is a safety-based stopping criterion requiring rest before continuation.
Question 4: When an FCE report must address return-to-work feasibility, the evaluator should compare the client's demonstrated capacities to which primary source?
- The client's own description of their previous job
- A current job demands analysis of the specific position (Correct answer)
- General population norms for the client's age group
- The O*NET task list for the broad occupational category
Correct answer: A current job demands analysis of the specific position
A current job demands analysis provides the most accurate and legally defensible comparison point for return-to-work decisions.
Question 5: Which validity criterion used in FCEs compares a client's performance across multiple trials of the same task to assess consistency of effort?
- Coefficient of variation (Correct answer)
- Waddell sign scoring
- Sincerity of effort rating
- Rapid exchange grip test
Correct answer: Coefficient of variation
A coefficient of variation below 15% across repeated trials is generally accepted as indicating consistent, reliable effort.
Question 6: In the context of FCE methodology, 'safe maximum' performance is best defined as:
- The highest load the client can lift under any circumstances
- The level of exertion sustainable without clinical signs of harm (Correct answer)
- Performance at the client's subjective pain tolerance limit
- The load at which the evaluator observes compensatory movement
Correct answer: The level of exertion sustainable without clinical signs of harm
Safe maximum is the highest performance level achievable without physiological, biomechanical, or safety warning signs.
Question 7: An FCE conducted for Social Security Disability determination differs from a workers' compensation FCE primarily because it must:
- Include psychological testing as a required component
- Address the claimant's ability to sustain work activity over an 8-hour day (Correct answer)
- Exclude any validity testing to avoid claimant bias
- Focus exclusively on sedentary work capacity
Correct answer: Address the claimant's ability to sustain work activity over an 8-hour day
Social Security evaluations require assessment of sustained work capacity across a full workday, not just peak performance snapshots.
CVE Functional Capacity Evaluation 2
During a Functional Capacity Evaluation, which principle guides the evaluator when a client's self-reported pain prevents them from completing a task they appear physically capable of performing?