Correlation between Functional-Movement Screening Test with Stature Abnormalities and Upper Limb Function of Military Personnel

Standard functional-movement screening tests can be one of the predictors of musculoskeletal injuries in military forces. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between functional-movement screening test scores and abnormalities and function of the upper limbs of military personnel.

The present study is correlational. The statistical population of this research was all military personnel working in one of the headquarters military centers in 2022. Forty people were selected purposefully after a public call. Checkerboard, New York Test Questionnaire and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (DASH) were used to measure upper body stature abnormalities. Then, all subjects performed seven Functional Movement Screen (FMS) test. Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient test by SPSS 22 software.

 30 samples with an average age of 30.30±4.47 years, FMS 18.32±2.24, and FMS 13.33±8.21 participated in this research. The results of the present study showed that 60.8% of the participants have some degree of functional disability in their upper limbs. The frequency and percentage of different scores for each FMS test are listed in Table 2. The Pearson correlation test results showed a significant relationship between the FMS test and upper limb function, as well as the incidence of upper body posture abnormalities (Table 3). In stature anomalies and the DASH questionnaire, a lower score indicates a better performance, which leads to a negative number obtained from Pearson's moment correlation coefficient. The results showed a negative relationship between the score obtained from the FMS test and the incidence of hunchback (p=0.001; r=-0.624) and head forward (p=0.001; r=-0.588) abnormal posturing was fairly strong. There was a significant, negative, and moderate correlation between the score obtained from the FMS test and the Hand and Arm Disability Assessment Questionnaire (DASH) test (p=0.003; r=-0.358).

 Creating preventive solutions such as monitoring and movement-functional screenings at different time points, improving the ergonomics of the work environment and tools, designing corrective exercises as well as periodic monitoring under the supervision of experts can be effective in preventing chronic musculoskeletal pain, performance loss, organizational financial losses and improving the quality of working life of staff. There was a strong and moderate negative correlation between the total score of the FMS test and some of the upper body posture abnormalities. It seems that the scores of the FMS test are affected by the structural-stature complications in the upper body organs. On the other hand, based on the FMS and DASH scores, it can be argued that the abnormalities of the upper body make a person more vulnerable to injury.