Accuracy of Functional Movement Screen Deep Squat Scoring and the Influence of Optimized Scoring Criteria: A 3-Dimensional Kinematic Approach.

The deep squat (DS) test is a component of the functional movement screen, which is used to assess the quality of fundamental movement patterns; however, the accuracy of the DS has not been studied. The DS is a complex, total body movement pattern with evaluation required at several points along the kinematic chain.
To assess the accuracy of DS scoring by an athletic trainer, physical therapist, and exercise science professional via a comparative analysis with kinematic data (KD) and to identify scoring criteria that would improve agreement between raters and KD scores.
Cross-sectional study.
Motion analysis laboratory.
A rater from each of 3 movement science disciplines rated the DS of 23 male college athletes (20.3 [1.2] y; 70.5 [3.5] kg).
Subjects were outfitted with reflective markers and asked to perform the DS. The DS performance was scored by 3 raters and kinematic analysis. Subsequently, the optimal set of criteria that minimized the difference between mode rater score and KD was determined via a Nelder-Mead simplex optimization routine.
Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated using SPSS (version 23; IBM, Armonk, NY) to determine tester agreement with the KD score and between the mode score and KD score.
Agreement was poor for the athletic trainer (ICC = .387), physical therapist (ICC = .298), exercise science professional (ICC = .378), and raters’ DS scores when compared with the KD. Agreement was poor for the mode score when compared with KD prior to optimization and good following optimization (ICC = .830), thereby allowing identification of specific scoring errors.
Agreement for DS scores is poor when compared with KD; however, it may be improved with optimization of DS scoring criteria.