TY - JOUR
T1 - Quickscan assesses risk factors of long-term sickness absence
T2 - A cross-sectional (factorial) construct validation study
AU - Goorts, Kaat
AU - Vandenbroeck, Sofie
AU - Vander Elst, Tinne
AU - Rusu, Dorina
AU - Bois, Marc Du
AU - Decuman, Saskia
AU - Godderis, Lode
N1 - Funding Information:
This was supported by National Institute for health and disability insurance http://www.riziv. fgov.be/nl/themas/arbeidsongeschiktheid/Paginas/ Kenniscentrum.aspx#.WxfIb0iFNPY. The funders had a role in the data collection process (contacts with different sickness fund organizations) and in the preparation of the manuscript. They did not have a role in the study design and analysis or in the decision to publish. The authors would like to thank F. Perl for providing feedback and support during this study. The authors would also like to thank all occupational health physicians and healthcare insurance organisations who participated in this research project and who provided the researchers with these new insights. In addition, they thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their efforts and feedback.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Goorts et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2019/1
Y1 - 2019/1
N2 - Objectives The number of sick-listed employees has increased dramatically worldwide. Therefore, many countries aim to stimulate early and sustainable return to work opportunities to obtain better health outcomes and lower costs for disability pensions. To effectively orientate resources to patients with a high risk of not resuming work spontaneously, it is necessary to screen patients early in their sickness absence process. In this study, we validate “Quickscan”, a new instrument to assess return-to-work needs and to predict risks of long-term sick leave. Methods As part of the Quickscan validation process, we tested and compared the reliability and construct validity of the questionnaire in two different populations. First, we conducted a cross-sectional study in which the screening instrument was sent to sick-listed individuals in healthcare insurance. In a second cross-sectional study, sick-listed workers who consulted the occupational health physician for return-to-work assessment were asked to fill out the questionnaire. We compared both samples for descriptive statistics: frequencies, means and standard deviations. Reliability of the scales was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate the construct (factorial) validity of the studied scales using software package AMOS 24. Results The screening tool was shown to be an instrument with reliable scales (except for the perfectionism and health perception patient scale) in both populations. The construct validity was satisfactory: we found that the hypothesized measurement models with the theoretical factors fitted the data well in both populations. In the first sample, the model improved for scales concerning stressful life events and showed worse fit for person-related factors. Work-related factors and functioning factors both showed similar fit indices across samples. We found small differences in descriptive statistics, which we could explain by the differences in characteristics of both populations. Conclusions We can conclude that the instrument has considerable potential to function as a screening tool for disability management and follow-up of sick-leave, provided that some adaptations and validation tests are executed.
AB - Objectives The number of sick-listed employees has increased dramatically worldwide. Therefore, many countries aim to stimulate early and sustainable return to work opportunities to obtain better health outcomes and lower costs for disability pensions. To effectively orientate resources to patients with a high risk of not resuming work spontaneously, it is necessary to screen patients early in their sickness absence process. In this study, we validate “Quickscan”, a new instrument to assess return-to-work needs and to predict risks of long-term sick leave. Methods As part of the Quickscan validation process, we tested and compared the reliability and construct validity of the questionnaire in two different populations. First, we conducted a cross-sectional study in which the screening instrument was sent to sick-listed individuals in healthcare insurance. In a second cross-sectional study, sick-listed workers who consulted the occupational health physician for return-to-work assessment were asked to fill out the questionnaire. We compared both samples for descriptive statistics: frequencies, means and standard deviations. Reliability of the scales was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate the construct (factorial) validity of the studied scales using software package AMOS 24. Results The screening tool was shown to be an instrument with reliable scales (except for the perfectionism and health perception patient scale) in both populations. The construct validity was satisfactory: we found that the hypothesized measurement models with the theoretical factors fitted the data well in both populations. In the first sample, the model improved for scales concerning stressful life events and showed worse fit for person-related factors. Work-related factors and functioning factors both showed similar fit indices across samples. We found small differences in descriptive statistics, which we could explain by the differences in characteristics of both populations. Conclusions We can conclude that the instrument has considerable potential to function as a screening tool for disability management and follow-up of sick-leave, provided that some adaptations and validation tests are executed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059848607&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0210359
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0210359
M3 - Article
C2 - 30633762
AN - SCOPUS:85059848607
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 14
JO - PLOS ONE
JF - PLOS ONE
IS - 1
M1 - e0210359
ER -