Use of a treadmill, lift, and carry battery as a composite functional performance test: analysis of data from a pragmatic randomized controlled trial in a military population participating in a functional restoration program.

Single military center; 84% male, 84% under 40, mostly Army active duty. Findings may not transfer to civilian pain populations or to older, more disabled patients. Secondary analysis: the parent trial was not designed to test the battery's psychometric properties, so the sample and timepoints were not chosen for that purpose. 54 of 194 baseline participants did not complete post-FR testing, so the 140 analysed may differ from those who dropped out. No data on specific musculoskeletal injury types, so results cannot be broken down by diagnosis. Correlations with self-report measures are weak (0.3 to 0.4), meaning the battery and questionnaires capture substantially different information; neither alone is sufficient.

All authors report no conflict of interest. The study was conducted at a US Army medical center (Madigan Army Medical Center, established under US Army Medical Command direction), but no external commercial funder is named.

Do not read the large effect sizes as proof that the functional restoration program works. This paper validates a measurement tool, not a treatment. The effect sizes show the battery can detect change; they do not isolate which of the many components (chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga, physical therapy, occupational therapy, CBT, pain education, structured physical activity) produced that change, and the parent trial's primary outcome is not reported here.