Sincerity of Effort Differences in Functional Capacity Evaluations

American workers who sustain injuries in the course of employment are often referred for a functional capacity evaluation (FCE) to determine their work-related physical impairments. As part of the testing battery, the worker's sincerity of effort is often measured. The reliability and validity of the FCE is determined by this portion of the evaluation. This research examines valid versus invalid FCE outcomes of White and non-White workers and considers the primary spoken language, English or Spanish. Results of the study show significant differences in sincerity of effort determinations between White and non-White (majority Latino/a) groups and between English and Spanish speaking workers. In contrast, examination of sincerity of outcome differences between gender and age groups were non-significant. This research suggests that consideration should be given to a worker's ethnicity and primary language spoken when "unreliable" or "invalid" outcomes are obtained in a FCE.