In the case of the FCE result showing either a lower or a higher class than the IP judgment, the expectation was that the IP would lower or raise his score on the VAS for that CH5424802 cost activity during the second judgment, i.e. a shift of more than 1.2 cm. The judgment was noted as ‘corresponding’ in the cases of no discrepancy in classes between the first VAS score and FCE result, or when a lower FCE classification was followed by a lower classification by the IP on the second VAS score. Likewise, when the FCE classification was higher

and the IP followed this classification by a raised judgment on the second VAS score, this was noted as ‘corresponding’. Finally, we calculated the total numbers of corresponding outcomes. BVD-523 in vitro Hereby, we noted the numbers of corresponding outcomes in which the IP did not change his judgment, and the numbers

of corresponding outcomes in which the IP raised or lowered his judgment on the second VAS. In all these cases, the second VAS score of the IP was in line with the result of the FCE assessment. The other cases, in which the second VAS score of the IP was not in line with the FCE assessment, were noted as ‘not-corresponding’. For these ‘not-corresponding’ outcomes, also the direction of the difference between the expected second VAS score and the actual second VAS score was noted. By using this method, it was possible to compare a total number of 297 activities (27 IPs and 11 activities). The scoring and analysis were performed independently by the first two authors (HW and VG). Any disagreements that remained after discussion were resolved by consulting a third researcher. MycoClean Mycoplasma Removal Kit The statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS version 13. Results Insurance physicians Fifty-four IPs were willing to participate in the study and signed an informed consent form, response rate of 54%. The mean age ± standard deviation (SD) of the IPs was

47 ± 7 years, and 56% of the IPs were male. They had 15 ± 7 years of experience in work-ability assessments. Fifteen of the IPs were familiar with FCE assessments. From 27 IPs, claimants entered the study. From the other 27 IPs, no claimants were included. These two groups of IPs did not significantly differ from each other in age, gender, and work experience. Only the Chi-square test for familiarity with FCE of the IP and the participation of claimants from that IP in the study showed a significant difference, viz. that claimants from IPs who were, preceding the study, familiar with FCE participated more often than claimants from IPs who were not familiar with FCE. In the group of IPs from whom patients were included in the study, there was no difference in the mean number of changed judgments between the first and second assessment of the physical work ability between the IPs who were familiar with FCE and the IPs who were not familiar with FCE.