The concomitant use of physician diagnosis and the comprehensive muscular activity profile (CMAP): Significant implications for case closure, costs, and pain ratings of patient's with musculoskeletal injuries

The degree of physical impairment, often due to a soft-tissue injury, is an important first step in evaluating musculoskeletal pain disorders in a workers' compensation population. The Comprehensive Muscular Activity Profile (CMAP) is a recent innovation for measuring such soft tissue injuries. A total of 114 consecutive patients with musculoskeletal pain claims were evaluated by medical examination and CMAP administration. Results indicated a 6.8 times increase in the odds of case closure when there was concordance between CMAP results and the physician's independent diagnoses. There was also a significant reduction of overall medical costs after the CMAP was conducted. These preliminary findings indicate good clinical utility for the CMAP. Implications and additional interpretations of these results are discussed.