Measuring Work Ability with Its Antecedents: Evaluation of the Work Ability Survey
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In: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, Vol. 28, No. 2, 01.06.2018, p. 307-321.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring Work Ability with Its Antecedents
T2 - Evaluation of the Work Ability Survey
AU - Voltmer, Jan Bennet
AU - Deller, Jürgen
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - Purpose The revised version of the Work Ability Survey (WAS-R) assesses work ability on several sub-scales at the intersection of personal and organizational capacity, thus adding to the measurement of work ability by integrating the holistic model. It, therefore, improves on two features of the current standard measurement tool of work ability, the Work Ability Index (WAI): (1) a ceiling effect and (2) limited detail due to a focus on physical health and personal capacity. Method In two samples (n1 = 1093, n2 = 359), psychometric properties and the structure of the WAS-R were analyzed. To evaluate construct validity, inter-correlations of the WAS-R and WAI, sickness absence, expected and desired retirement age, and post-retirement work intention were calculated. Results The WAS-R was found to be distributed closer to normality than the WAI. The structural analyses yielded acceptable results for the hypothesized model. The WAS-R was adequately correlated with the WAI, negatively with sickness absence, and positively with desired retirement age. Conclusions The WAS-R extends the measurement of work ability, reflecting organizations’ work demands. Its broad sub-scales lead to high acceptance of the results within the participating companies. In particular, the organizational capacity scales can be used to guide interventions aiming at organizational characteristics to improve work ability.
AB - Purpose The revised version of the Work Ability Survey (WAS-R) assesses work ability on several sub-scales at the intersection of personal and organizational capacity, thus adding to the measurement of work ability by integrating the holistic model. It, therefore, improves on two features of the current standard measurement tool of work ability, the Work Ability Index (WAI): (1) a ceiling effect and (2) limited detail due to a focus on physical health and personal capacity. Method In two samples (n1 = 1093, n2 = 359), psychometric properties and the structure of the WAS-R were analyzed. To evaluate construct validity, inter-correlations of the WAS-R and WAI, sickness absence, expected and desired retirement age, and post-retirement work intention were calculated. Results The WAS-R was found to be distributed closer to normality than the WAI. The structural analyses yielded acceptable results for the hypothesized model. The WAS-R was adequately correlated with the WAI, negatively with sickness absence, and positively with desired retirement age. Conclusions The WAS-R extends the measurement of work ability, reflecting organizations’ work demands. Its broad sub-scales lead to high acceptance of the results within the participating companies. In particular, the organizational capacity scales can be used to guide interventions aiming at organizational characteristics to improve work ability.
KW - Demographic change
KW - Health
KW - Organizational capacity
KW - Personal capacity
KW - Retirement
KW - Health sciences
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85025603006&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10926-017-9720-3
DO - 10.1007/s10926-017-9720-3
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 28741256
AN - SCOPUS:85025603006
VL - 28
SP - 307
EP - 321
JO - Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
JF - Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
SN - 1053-0487
IS - 2
ER -