Validation of the work-ability support scale in individuals seeking to return to work after severe acquired brain injury.

PURPOSE: To assess the reliability and validity of the work-ability support scale (WSS) in a severe traumatic/acquired brain injury (TBI/ABI) population seeking to return to work (RTW). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred forty-four clients were enrolled in a vocational rehabilitation (VR) intervention trial through the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program in New South Wales, Australia. Each client's primary brain injury clinician and VR provider completed the WSS pre- and post-intervention. Validating measures assessing dysexecutive behavior, disability, participation, and work instability were completed. Several aspects of reliability and validity were evaluated. RESULTS: Internal consistency was excellent for Part A (Cronbach's αs > 0.9) but unacceptably low to questionable for Part B (αs < 0.6). Inter-rater reliability between clinicians and VR providers was generally fair to moderate for Part A (κw < 0.6) and worse for Part B (κw < 0.5), with both slightly improving at post-intervention. Strong support was found for predictive and convergent validity, but not divergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a poor fit for Part A, whereas most Part B fit indices met criteria. CONCLUSIONS: The WSS can play a useful role in assessing return to work (RTW) potential, planning and evaluation after severe TBI/ABI. Training could improve consistency of administration among staff working across health and VR service sectors.

The work-ability support scale (WSS) has potential as a screening tool in assisting return to work (RTW) assessment, planning, and evaluation, following severe traumatic brain injury and acquired brain injury.Employment success following a RTW intervention was predicted by the initial WSS Part A total score.The low inter-rater reliability between brain injury clinicians in health settings and vocational rehabilitation providers suggests that training will be important to improve consistency in WSS administration across service sectors.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Chinese Version of the Work-Ability Support Scale (WSS) in Young and Middle-Aged Stroke Survivors.

Purpose To translate and cross-culturally adapt the Work-Ability Support Scale (WSS) into Chinese and evaluate the reliability and validity of the measure among young and middle-aged stroke survivors. Methods A total of 210 participants aged 28-60 years were recruited from two communities in Zhengzhou. Item analysis, internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and construct validity were tested. Results A moderate level of correlation between the items and the domains (r > 0.60), and the significant differences in items between the high group and the low group were tested by independent sample t-tests (P < 0.001). For Part A, Cronbach's α of the domains "physical", "thinking and communication", and "social/behavioural" was 0.865, 0.857 and 0.912, respectively. The Cronbach's α coefficient of Part A of the WSS was calculated as 0.931. The Cronbach's α of Part B was 0.761, with Cronbach's α values of 0.795, 0.649 and 0.643 for "personal factors", "environmental factors (within the workplace)", and "barriers to return to work", respectively. The split-half coefficients of Parts A and B were assessed as 0.804 and 0.559, respectively. The kappa coefficient of the other items all exceeded 0.60 (P < 0.001), except for a few items. The scale-level content validity index (S-CVI) was 0.94 and 0.90 for Parts A and B, respectively. The original construct of the scale was examined by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and model fit indices were mostly satisfactory. Conclusion The WSS is a reliable and valid tool for measuring young and middle-aged Chinese stroke survivors' work ability and support needs during their return to work.

Work-ability Support Scale-Chinese Version for Stroke Patients: Reliability and Validity Analysis / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To test the reliability and validity of Work-ability Support Scale (WSS) in stroke patients. Methods:WSS was translated into Chinese with the standard translation-retroversion. From December, 2018 to March, 2019, 193 middle-aged and young stroke patients from two community health service centers in Zhengzhou were conveniently selected, and investigated with Chinese WSS by two nurses. The data were analyzed with item analysis, content validity, exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency reliability and inter-rater reliability. Results:The content validity was 0.94 in WSS A and 0.90 in WSS B. Three factors were extracted from 16 items in WSS A, with cumulative variance contribution of 67.747%; while three factors were extracted from 12 items in WSS B, with cumulative variance contribution of 56.056%. Cronbach's α was 0.933 and 0.778 in WSS A and WSS B, respectively. The kappa coefficient was above 0.6 between two raters in every item, except items B8 and B10. Conclusion:Chinese WSS is satisfactory in validity and reliability for using in young and middle-aged stroke patients during their return to work.

Development of a new tool to evaluate work support needs and guide vocational rehabilitation: the work-ability support scale (WSS).

PURPOSE: This article outlines our overall approach, qualitative work, and pilot testing to develop a tool to facilitate identification of level of support needs and assist in planning for vocational rehabilitation interventions. METHODS: A set of foundation principles drawn from literature and previous critiques of work-ability assessment tools were used to guide a set of studies to develop a new tool. A review of the literature regarding factors that influence work-ability, qualitative interviews and focus groups with a range of stakeholders in the return-to-work process, and pilot testing in different settings were used to develop the Work-ability Support Scale (WSS) to a stage where it had face validity, usability and acceptability for a range of key stakeholders and was ready for further testing. RESULTS: Qualitative work and pilot testing enhanced the proposed tool with a series of changes and refinements to the content, structure and scoring framework. The current version of the tool is presented. Inter-rater reliability is presented elsewhere. CONCLUSION: Core principles and stakeholders' views (injured or sick workers, employers, case managers and health professionals) support current tool design. Although further testing is required, the WSS appears to hold potential for use in the assessment of vocational rehabilitation needs.