Abstract
Work ability (WA) is an important concept in occupational health research and for over 30 years assessed worldwide with the Work Ability Index (WAI). In recent years, criticism of the WAI is increasing and alternative instruments are presented. The authors postulate that theoretical and methodological issues need to be considered when developing alternative measures for WA and conclude that a short uni-dimensional measure is needed that avoids conceptual blurring. The aim of this contribution is to validate the short and uni-dimensional WAI components WAI 1 (one item measuring “current WA compared with the lifetime best”) and WAI 2 (two items assessing “WA in relation to the [mental/physical] demands of the job”). Cross-sectional and 12-month follow-up data of two large samples was used to determine construct validity of WAI 1 and WAI 2 and to relate this to respective results with the WAI. Data sources comprise nurses in Europe investigated in the European NEXT-Study (Sample A; Ncross-sectional = 28,948 and NLongitudinal = 9462, respectively) and nursing home employees of the German 3Q-Study (Sample B) where nurses (N = 786; 339, respectively) and non-nursing workers (N = 443; 196, respectively) were included. Concurrent and predictive validity of WAI 1 and WAI 2 were assessed with self-rated general health, burnout and considerations leaving the profession. Spearman rank correlation (ρ) with bootstrapping was applied. In all instances, WAI 1 and WAI 2 correlated moderately, and to a similar degree, with the related constructs. Further, WAI 1 and 2 correlated with WAI moderately to strongly with ρ ranging from 0.72–0.76 (WAI 1) and 0.70–0.78 (WAI 2). Based on the findings and supported by theoretical and methodological considerations, the authors confirm the feasibility of the short measures WAI 1 and WAI 2 for replacing WAI at least in occupational health research and employee surveys.
Highlights
Work ability is an important concept in occupational health research and practice
Of the 28,948 participants considered for the cross-sectional NEXT-data analyses, 89.4% were women, the age range was 18–70 years
Among the 9462 nurses selected for longitudinal analyses, 89.3% were women, the age range was 19–63 years
Summary
Work ability is an important concept in occupational health research and practice. Numerous approaches to measure work ability have been developed over the past four decades and there is still dynamic in this field. Responding to increasing criticism we aim to give an overview over the assessment approaches and discuss theoretical and methodological questions, taking into account new approaches which have been brought up during the last years. We investigate the option of using a one-item and a two-item measure for the sound and economic measurement of work ability in large questionnaire studies. Work Ability—Concept, Theory and Its Historical Development. For more than 30 years the concept of “work ability” has been used in workplace health promotion and work research. In the early 1980s, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health investigated if
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