Test-retest reliability and intermethod agreement of a web-based questionnaire on work postures and workstation characteristics
conference paper
Questionnaires are widely used to assess for non-neutral work postures in order to prevent upper extremity disorders among office workers. From previous research we know that the agreement between questionnaires and objective measurements for assessi ng work postures and workstation characteristics among office workers is low. One of the recommendations of previous research was to add pictures to increase clarity. Hence, we developed a web-based questionnaire in which pictures were added. Questionnaire items concerned both work postures and workstation characteristics. We investigated test-retest reliability and agreement with observations and measurements with a manual goniometer. The study population consisted of 84 office workers of a research department. Questionnaire items regarding workstation characteristics showed sufficient test-retest reliability and agreement with observation. Questions regarding work postures showed poor agreement with the observations. None of the questions showed good agreement with the manual goniometer measurements. The conclusion of this study is that our questionnaire cannot validly measure work postures, despite the added pictures. Efforts should be directed to objective measurements if one wants to validly measure work postures among office workers.
TNO Identifier
575323
Publisher
Elsevier
Source title
International Ergonomics Association (IEA) 2006, 16th World Congress on Ergonomics "Meeting diversity in ergonomics", Maastricht, 10-14 July
Editor(s)
Pikaar, R.N.
Koningsveld, E.A.P.
Settels, P.J.M.
Koningsveld, E.A.P.
Settels, P.J.M.
Place of publication
Oxford