Use of functional movement screen in a tactical population: A review

Background: The Functional Movement Screen is a tool used in athletic populations for predicting injury
potential by assessing movement dysfunction. This tool may be of use in tactical populations (police officers, firefighters and military personnel) who perform daily duties of a physical nature, often carrying loads that negatively affect their movement patterns and cause physical injury.
Purpose: This purpose of this review was to explore the literature on the use of the Functional Movement
Screen in tactical populations.
Methods: Literature databases were searched using key search words and terms. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria were critically evaluated using the Downs and Black protocol. Inter-rater agreement was determined by Cohen’s Kappa.
Results: Five articles were retained for evaluation with a mean Downs and Black score of 73%, (k=0.82). Studies included both genders from military and firefighting populations.
Conclusion: Research suggests that the Functional Movement Screen can be reliably applied to a tactical
population and may be of use as a screening tool. A score of below 14 may indicate an increased risk of injury. Furthermore, the tool can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of tactical conditioning programs. Further research is required to confirm and advance these findings within this population.