The work environment impact scale – self-rating (WEIS-SR) evaluated in primary health care in Sweden

Abstract

To develop a self-report alternative to the Work Environment Impact Scale (WEIS). First the novel instrument was used and evaluated by ten occupational therapists and 45~clients in primary health care. Then the instrument was used by 26~clients who participated in a rehabilitation programme in another primary health care district. The instrument was investigated in two steps. First content validity and utility were investigated through a questionnaire addressed to occupational therapists and their clients respectively. The response distribution was calculated by frequencies. Internal consistency was investigated. In the second step, a revised version of the instrument was investigated for test-retest reliability and internal consistency. The test-retest reliability was calculated by weighted kappa. The internal consistency of the WEIS-SR was calculated by means of Cronbach's alpha. In step one the content validity was good to moderately good, the utility was good, and the internal consistency was satisfactory (0.72). In step two the internal consistency was good (0.88/0.89) and the test-retest reliability was mostly good to moderate (0.35-0.78, median 0.61). The instrument will be further investigated in other populations and take into consideration additional psychometric properties such as sensitivity to change, predictive validity, and concurrent validity.