The Maximum Voluntary Effort testA b(MstrVaEct) is an integral part of a battery of tests
commonly referred to as the Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE). The MVE purportedly
measures sincerity of effort by analyzing the degree of variation in repeated maximal handgrip
strength trials. However not much is known about the performances of chronically disabled
people on the MVE and the construct validity of the test is unclear.
The first purpose of this study was to describe the performance of a chronically injured
population and compare it with known performances, particularly Matheson, Carlton and
Niemeyer's (1989) sample. The second purpose was to determine how certain factors of a
chronically injured population related to MVE outcome measures.
Descriptive and correlative statistical analyses were applied to data collected from the
chart records of 100 consecutive injury claimants (female n= 69, male n=31) who had undergone
an FCE at a private rehabilitation clinic in the lower mainland region of British Columbia. The
performances of the total, female, and male samples on the MVE test were analyzed according to
peak grip strength and variability. Maximum Voluntary Effort test outcomes (dependent
variable) were examined according to their relationship to 5 demographic and 5 diagnostic
independent variables.
Expected patterns of grip-strength performance were generally observed. A curvilinear
relationship between strength and age was evident with mean grip strength scores peaking at the
31-36 years of age cohort for both genders. Male and dominant hand measures were slightly
greater than female and non-dominant hand, respectively. Generally, grip-strength was
substantially diminuted suggesting decreased physical strength and fatigue tolerance trends
among the sample. Compared with Matheson et al's sample, median grip scores were similar but
variance was generally greater by as much as 5.5%. Three of the 10 independent variables showed statistically significant relationships with
MVE outcomes; 'occupation' (demographic variable, Chi Square= 13.562, df=5, p=.019), 'referral
source' (diagnostic variable, Chi Square= 23.306, df=l, p=.000) and number of injury 'episodes'
(diagnostic variable, Chi Square=27.600, df=2, p=.000). The relationship of depression,
measured by the BDI, with MVE outcomes remained unclear as 16 subjects with positive MVEs
had not completed the BDI.Medicine, Faculty ofGraduat
