Work-related complaints of the arm, neck and shoulders (CANS) are frequently occurring. In order to recover from or prevent CANS the workload of the upper extremities needs to be evaluated. Several valid observational methods that assess the workload are available, e.g. the Strain Index (SI), the Occupational Repetitive Actions (OCRA), the Threshold Limit Value for Hand Activity Level (TLV for HAL), and the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA). These methods are composed of observations of the upper limb assessing movements, forces and postures. The SI and the TLV for HAL comprise assessments for the distal upper extremities, whereas the OCRA and the RULA take both the distal and proximal parts of the upper extremities into account. Some of these methods take even more aspects of the work into consideration, such as duration of the work and the speed of work. The outcome of these methods gives an indication whether the employee is at risk for developing work-related CANS and whether adjustments in the work situation might be necessary. Disadvantages of observational methods are the need of an observer, time investment and costs. A questionnaire measuring upper extremity workload would be quicker, cheaper and could be filled in without an observer. The UEWD 2.0 is a 6-item questionnaire measuring upper extremity workload (1,2). Construct validity has been determined using the RULA and seems to be acceptable (3), but should be confirmed further using SI, TLV for HAL and OCRA.
Research question / problem definition
To determine the construct validity of the UEWD 2.0 based on pre-defined hypotheses on the correlations between UEWD 2.0 and SI, TLV for HAL and OCRA.
Workplan
50 workers have been observed during execution of their daily work. Video recordings of these work tasks have been made. The researcher is going to score these video recordings for SI, TLV for HAL and OCRA. The obtained scores of the three observational methods will be used to determine the construct validity of the UEWD.
References
1. Opsteegh L, Soer R, Reinders-Messelink HA, Reneman MF, Van Der Sluis CK. Validity of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles for Assessing Upper Extremity Work Demands. PLoS One. 2010;5(12)
2. Jacobs N, Berduszek RJ, Dijkstra P, C.K van der S. Evaluation of measurement properties of the Upper Extremity Work Demads scale. J Occup Rehabil. 2016;
3. Cavalini MA, Berduszek RJ, Sluis CK van der. The construct validity and re-test reliability of the UEWD 2.0. Master thesis University of Groningen, 2016.
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