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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Rena A. Nicholas, MS1, Michael Feuerstein, PhD, ABPP1, Grant D Huang, MPH, PhD1, Amy J. Haufler, PhD2, and Glenn Pransky, MD, MPH3. (1) Medical/Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814-9953, 301-295-9660, rnicholas@usuhs.mil, (2) Kinesiology, University of Maryland, HHP Building, College Park, MD 20742, (3) Liberty Mutual Center for Disability Research, 71 Frankland Road, Hopkinton, MA 01748
Methods for identifying individuals at risk for developing work-related upper extremity disorders (WRUEDs) are essential to initiate prevention and early intervention. The present study developed a brief self-report measure of workstyle, which is a potential risk factor for WRUEDs. Workstyle is the manner in which an individual responds to increased work demands and has been proposed to describe how psychosocial job demands and ergonomic risks interact and influence the course of WRUEDs. The measure was developed using standard measurement methodology, including focus groups of office workers to identify aspects of workplace stressors and individual behaviors related to the workstyle construct. This information was used to generate specific scale items reflecting either characteristic patterns of thoughts and behaviors experienced while at work, or behaviors, emotions and symptoms, experienced during periods of high work demands. These test items, along with standard measures of job stress, ergonomic risk, and functional outcomes, were administered using a web-based survey to 282 participants. Of the workstyle test items, 91 were found via factor analyses, to demonstrate sound psychometric properties as a survey of 10 subscales. The survey was reduced by random spilt-half selections within each subscale. The reduced, 47-item measure was highly correlated with the original measure (r=0.98), evidenced good internal consistency (alpha=0.91), stable test-retest reliability (r=0.98), and a significant linear trend for increasing adverse outcomes including pain (F=24.57, df=1; p<0.01) and functional limitation (F=54.98, df=1; p<0.01). This brief survey appears to be a valid, useful tool for investigating the epidemiology of WRUEDs.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Occupational Health, Workplace Stressors
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.