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Test‐retest reliability of the Upper Extremity Questionnaire among keyboard operators * †
Author(s) -
Salerno Deborah F.,
Franzblau Alfred,
Armstrong Thomas J.,
Werner Robert A.,
Becker Mark P.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.10024
Subject(s) - medicine , intraclass correlation , respondent , psychosocial , cohen's kappa , kappa , reliability (semiconductor) , test (biology) , physical therapy , population , logistic regression , epidemiology , clinical psychology , psychometrics , psychiatry , statistics , environmental health , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , power (physics) , mathematics , physics , quantum mechanics , political science , law , biology
Background Questionnaires are often used in research among workers although few have been tested in the working population. The Upper Extremity Questionnaire is a self‐administered questionnaire designed for epidemiological studies and tested among workers. This study assessed reliability of the instrument. Methods A two‐part assessment was conducted among 138 keyboard operators as part of a large medical survey. Test‐retest reliability was analyzed using the kappa statistic, paired t‐test, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Logistic regression models were used to test the effect of demographic and work‐related factors on reliability. Results The average respondent was a white woman, age 35 years, with some college education, in permanent employment with tenure of 1.4 years. Overall, reports of symptoms were stable from Round 1 to 2. Most kappa values for symptom reports were between 0.60 and 0.89. Kappa values for right and left hand diagrams were 0.57 and 0.28, respectively. Among psychosocial items, Perceived Stress and Job Dissatisfaction Scales were most reliable (ICC = 0.88); co‐worker support was least reliable (ICC = 0.44). Conclusion Reliability of items on the Upper Extremity Questionnaire were generally good to excellent. Reports of symptom severity and interference with work were less stable. Demographic and work‐related factors were not statistically significant in modeling the variation in reliability. Repeated use of the questionnaire with similar results suggests findings are applicable to a larger working population. Am. J. Ind. Med. 40:655–666, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc