Functional Movement Screen in Elite Boy Basketball Players: A Reliability Study

Purpose: To investigate the reliability of Functional Movement Screen (FMS) in basketball players. A few studies have compared the reliability of FMS between raters with different experience in athletes. The purpose of this study was to compare the FMS scoring between the beginners and expert raters using video records.  Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. The study subjects comprised 15 elite boy basketball players. The subjects were randomly selected and each of them completed FMS tests. Three examiners (two beginners and one expert) watched the recorded video separately and scored the tests. We used the Kinovea video-analysis software for data analysis. The test-retest reliability was assessed using Intra-Class Correlation Coefficients (ICCs). Also inter-tester reliability of each test was computed using Fleiss’ kappa test.  Results: The mean (SD) total FMS score for rater 1, rater 2, and rater 3 were 14.17(1.26), 14.17(1.94), and 13.67(1.67), respectively. There was no significant difference between examiners with respect to total FMS score (P=0.136). Half of the individual FMS components had perfect agreement, and rest were categorized as moderate to substantial agreement. The high and moderate values of ICC as 0.88~0.99 and 0.71~0.91 were observed for intra-rater and inter-rater reliability, respectively.  Conclusion: The examiners reported FMS total scores similarly. The inter-rater reliability for the test components had strong agreement. This finding suggests that FMS can be used in the evaluation of the abnormal movement patterns of the athletes.