TY - JOUR AU - Bachmann, Monica AU - de Boer, Wout AU - Schandelmaier, Stefan AU - Leibold, Andrea AU - Marelli, Renato AU - Jeger, Joerg AU - Hoffmann-Richter, Ulrike AU - Mager, Ralph AU - Schaad, Heinz AU - Zumbrunn, Thomas AU - Vogel, Nicole AU - Bänziger, Oskar AU - Busse, Jason W. AU - Fischer, Katrin AU - Kunz, Regina PY - 2016 DA - 2016/07/29 TI - Use of a structured functional evaluation process for independent medical evaluations of claimants presenting with disabling mental illness: rationale and design for a multi-center reliability study JO - BMC Psychiatry SP - 271 VL - 16 IS - 1 AB - Work capacity evaluations by independent medical experts are widely used to inform insurers whether injured or ill workers are capable of engaging in competitive employment. In many countries, evaluation processes lack a clearly structured approach, standardized instruments, and an explicit focus on claimants’ functional abilities. Evaluation of subjective complaints, such as mental illness, present additional challenges in the determination of work capacity. We have therefore developed a process for functional evaluation of claimants with mental disorders which complements usual psychiatric evaluation. Here we report the design of a study to measure the reliability of our approach in determining work capacity among patients with mental illness applying for disability benefits. SN - 1471-244X UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0967-6 DO - 10.1186/s12888-016-0967-6 ID - Bachmann2016 ER -