Age and gender normative data for lift capacity.

BACKGROUND Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCEs) are routinely used in physical medicine to ascertain an individual's work ability; with lift capacity being an important aspect of many evaluations. Despite the widespread use of lift capacity tests, there are few studies that provide age and gender normative data. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety, reliability, and validity of the EPIC Lift Capacity test, and to examine the effects of age and gender on lift capacity. METHODS This study used a test-retest design with 4,443 adult participants in good general health. Test-retest of participants' lift capacity was undertaken to examine safety and reliability. Age and gender and the self-reported physical demands of each employed participant's usual and customary job were collected to examine validity. RESULTS Safety and reliability were demonstrated for both measures of lift capacity for each of the six sub-tests in the EPIC Lift Capacity test battery. Inter-subtest differences and expected age and gender differences were found across all subtests. CONCLUSIONS The EPIC Lift Capacity test is a safe and reliable test of lift capacity.Normative data are presented that allow comparison within age and gender categories.