Affiliations: [a]
Department of Epidemiology, CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| [b]
Academic Collaborative Centre for Public Health Limburg, Public Health Service Southern Limburg, Geleen, The Netherlands
| [c]
Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: H. Hoofs, Department of Epidemiology, School CAPHRI, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 0 43 3882368; Fax: +31 0 43 3884128; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: Background:Need for recovery (NFR) and prolonged fatigue are two important concepts for monitoring short- and long-term outcomes of psychological job demands within employees. For effective monitoring it is, however, important to gain insight in the reproducibility of the instruments that are used. OBJECTIVE:The objective was to assess reproducibility of the NFR scale and Checklist Individual Strength (CIS), measuring NFR and prolonged fatigue respectively, in the working population. METHODS:Longitudinal data from the Maastricht Cohort Study (MCS) study was used, capturing 12,140 employees from 45 different companies at baseline. A ‘working’ and ‘returning to work’ sample was conceived for different intervals; 4-month, 1-year, and 2-year. RESULTS:Reliability, assessed with the interclass correlation, was high within employees with a stable work environment for the NFR scale (0.78) and CIS (0.75). The smallest detectable change, assessing the agreement, was 41.20 for the NFR scale and 31.10 for the CIS. CONCLUSIONS:Reliability was satisfactory for both the NFR scale and CIS. The agreement of both scales to detect a changes within employees was, however, less optimal. It is, therefore, suggested that, ideally, both instruments are placed within a broader range of instruments to effectively monitor the outcomes of psychological job demands.
Keywords: Occupational health, public health, psychometrics, health surveillence, mental health
