Occupational Medicine 2007 57(2):160; doi:10.1093/occmed/kqm008
© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
The Work Ability Index (WAI)
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A brief history
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Our multidisciplinary study group (occupational physiology,
psychology, medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics) started
cross-sectional studies among municipal employees in 1981. The
study participants were followed for 16 years [
1,
2]. Since the
beginning, the use of Work Ability Index (WAI) both in research
and practice has widened to various countries, and the index
has been translated into 24 languages.
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Description
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The WAI is an instrument used in clinical occupational health
and research to assess work ability during health examinations
and workplace surveys. The index is determined on the basis
of the answers to a series of questions which take into consideration
the demands of work, the worker's health status and resources.
The worker completes the questionnaire before the interview
with an occupational health professional who rates the responses
according to the instructions [
9]. WAI is a summary measure
of seven items (range 7–49) (
Table 1).
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Validity
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The validity and reliability of the WAI has been assessed in
correlation analyses. The WAI and all its items reliably predicted
work disability, retirement and mortality [
8]. More recently,
the validity of WAI has been studied by Radkiewich
et al. [
3]
and test–retest reliability by de Zwart
et al. [
4].
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Key research
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Besides the Finnish research, there is also a wide spectrum
of international research [
7]. The Nurses' Early Exit study
included 38 000 participants from 10 European countries [
3].
In Sweden, Torgén's study [
5] covered a random sample
of the Swedish working population (
N = 3500). A number of large
studies have also been undertaken in China [
6].
Juhani Ilmarinen
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References
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- In Ilmarinen J (Ed.). The aging worker. Scand J Work Environ Health (1991) 17:Suppl. 1, 1–141.[Web of Science][Medline]
- In Tuomi K (Ed.). Eleven-year follow-up of aging workers. Scand J Work Environ Health (1997) 23:Suppl. 1, 1–71.[Web of Science][Medline]
- Radkiewich P and Widerszal-Bazyl M. (2005) Psychometric Properties of Work Ability Index in the Light of Comparative Survey Study. International Congress Series 1280(Elsevier, The Netherlands) pp. 304–309.
- de Zwart B and Frings-Dresen M. (2002) Test-retest reliability of the Work Ability Index questionnaire. Occup Med (Lond) 52:177–181.
- Torgén M. (2005) Experiences of WAI in a Random Sample of the Swedish Working Population. International Congress Series 1280(Elsevier, The Netherlands) pp. 328–332.
- Lin S, Wang Z, Wang M. (2006) Work ability of workers in western China: reference data. Occup Med (Lond) 56:89–93.
- Assessment and Promotion of Work Ability, Health and Well-Being of Ageing Workers. International Congress Series 1280 (2005) (ElsevierIn Costa G, Goedhard WJA, Ilmarinen J (Eds.). , The Netherlands)1–435.
- Ilmarinen J and Tuomi K. (2004) Past, present and future of work ability. People and Work Research ReportsFinnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki 65: pp. 1–25.
- Tuomi K, Ilmarinen J, Jahkola A, Katajarinne L, Tulkki A. (1998) Work Ability Index 2nd revised edn (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki).
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A brief history
Description