The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a series of 7 tests that categorize fundamental movement. Each test is scored on an ordinal scale with 4 categories. The purpose of this study was to determine the interrater reliability of the FMS. Forty healthy subjects were videotaped while performing the FMS. The videos were independently scored by 4 raters, including 2 experts who instruct FMS training courses and 2 novices who completed a standardized training course on the FMS. Interrater reliability was analyzed using the weighted kappa statistic. The novice raters demonstrated excellent or substantial agreement on 14 of the 17 tests, whereas the expert raters did the same on 13 of the 17 tests. When the novice raters were paired with the expert raters, all 17 components demonstrated excellent or substantial agreement. These data indicate that the FMS can confidently be applied by trained individuals. This would suggest that the FMS can be confidently used to assess the movement patterns of athletes and to make decisions related to interventions for performance enhancement, and the FMS may assist in identifying athletes at risk for injury.

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Apply It! After reading this article, the health and fitness professional will • Learn how to empower clients to take personal responsibility for their functional movement throughout the life span • Explore self-tracking designed to teach clients to assess and record health-related and neuromotor movement patterns • Apply behavioral and coaching theories to the application of self-assessment to prevent musculoskeletal issues while engaging in regular movement practices.