OTOtherJournal of occupational rehabilitation2025

Sustainable Employability of People with Limited Capability for Work: The Participatory Development and Validation of a Questionnaire.

S R Hiemstra, B P I Fleuren, A de Jonge and 2 others

PMID 38769241

WHAT IT FOUND

A participatory process adapted an employability questionnaire for people with limited work capacity.

Cognitive interviews with six men and analysis of 248 employees yielded a valid instrument. The original Utrecht Work Engagement scale showed the weakest fit.

Key findings

01Cognitive interviews identified 173 problems and led to 144 adjustments, resulting in a final 57-item questionnaire.

02Confirmatory factor analysis showed generally good fit for the overall Sustainable Employability model, though the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale had the weakest fit among indicators.

03Removing the internal employability item improved model fit because it reflected organisational policy rather than individual employability in this specific work setting.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs

Read the rest of this summary

You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.

Already have one?

What it does not show

The study was conducted in a specific governmental supported employment setting, so results may not generalise to other work environments. Phase I participants were all male, limiting gender diversity in the initial adaptation. The cross-sectional design cannot capture the longitudinal nature of sustainable employability. Subgroups were too small to test measurement invariance across different disabilities or demographics.

The easy way to misread this

Do not assume this questionnaire is valid for all people with disabilities or in all employment settings. It was developed and validated specifically for employees in a Dutch governmental supported work environment. Using it elsewhere without re-testing face validity may lead to inaccurate assessments.

Read it on PubMed →