Functional movement screening – Can it predict injury in sport?

By Suegnet Meyer

Functional movement screening (FMS) is a tool that consist of 7 tests. It is widely used by trainers, coaches and therapists to predict if an athlete is at risk of injury. Many have raised their scepticism regarding the true value of using these tests as injury predictor.

In a recent systematic review (Moran et al., 2017), documented that FMS composite scores prediction and injuries that occurred, did not correlate. ‘Moderate’ evidence exist  ‘against’ using FMS in football injury prediction. Limited and conflicting evidence exists in basketball, running, police and firefighters. Various cases were assessed and ‘strong’ evidence was found that a high FMS composite scores, predicting a high injury risk, only resulted in a small amount of injuries sustained in military personnel. Although FMS has good to excellent inter- and intra-reliability, it is advised not to base injury prediction on FMS, as it is inaccurate.

Reference:

Moran, R., Schneiders, R.W., Mason, J., Sullivan, S.J., (2017). Do Functional Movement Screen (FMS) composite scores predict subsequent injury? A systematic review with meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine. DOI:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096938