Validity and Reliability of the 8-Item Work Limitations Questionnaire.
Timothy J Walker, Jessica M Tullar, Pamela M Diamond and 2 others
PMID 28025750WHAT IT FOUND
The short 8-item work limitations score can be used as one overall score in a large employee group, and scores rise when people report worse health.
Do not use it alone to judge one patient.
Key findings
01In 10,165 employees, the 8 items worked as one overall work-limitation score after allowing three pairs of questions to share extra similarity.
02The score's consistency estimate was 0.69, and scores agreed 0.78 when 18 employees answered again about 30.7 days later.
03Scores were higher for employees who reported more chronic conditions or worse general health.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The repeat testing group was only 18 employees, so score stability over time rests on a very small sample. The sample was university employees, many of whom reported good health, so the findings may not apply to patients with severe disability or other workplaces. The 8-item reliability estimate was 0.69, acceptable but lower than the 25-item version. The questionnaire was compared with single health-assessment questions rather than established measures such as the SF-36 or the 25-item WLQ. Two physical-demand questions did not fit the overall score as strongly, possibly because their wording was reversed.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude the 8-item WLQ is proven for patient care. It was tested in university employees using health assessment data, and the authors say results may not generalise to other work settings.