Validity and Reliability of self-reported Retrospectively Collected Data on Sick Leave Related to Musculoskeletal Diseases

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment ＆ Health Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 425 - 431
• Main Authors: Fredriksson, K, Toomingas, A, Torgén, M, Thorbjörnsson, C B, Kilbom, A
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Helsinki Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment ＆ Health 01.10.1998; National Institute for Working Life; Finnish Institute of Occupational Health; National Institute of Occupational Health (Denmark); National Institute of Occupational Health (Norway); Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Data validity; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Men; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Morbidity; Musculoskeletal diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases - epidemiology; Musculoskeletal disorders; Occupational medicine; Population Surveillance - methods; Prevalence; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Questionnaires; Registries; Reproducibility of Results; Retrospective Studies; Self reports; Sick leave; Sick Leave - statistics & numerical data; Social insurance; Special section: 45th (Nordisk Arbejdsmiljo Mode) Nordic Conference on the Work Environment and Health (NCWEH), Rebild Bakker, Denmark, 1—3 September 1997; Surveys and Questionnaires; Sweden - epidemiology; Womens health; Sweden; positive prediction value; agreement percentage; reliability; specificity; sensitivity; validity; Cohen's kappa; negative prediction value; Human; Evaluation; Vacation; Disease; Absenteeism; Musculoskeletal disease; Occupational environment; Validity; Sensitivity; Specificity; Self-Reporting Questionnaire; Predictive value; Methodological bias; Retrospective searching; Reliability; Occupational medicine; Data gathering
• ISSN: 0355-3140; 1795-990X
• DOI: 10.5271/sjweh.365

Objectives The aim was to study the reliability and validity of retrospective data, collected by self-report, on sick leave related to musculoskeletal diseases. Methods The study groups consisted of 66 and 306 subjects, for the reliability and validity studies, respectively. They were all part of a wider study of risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders, the REBUS study, conducted in Stockholm in 1993. Reliability was tested using a test-retest design regarding self-reported sick leave related to musculoskeletal diseases in 1970—1993. The validity study comprised the period 1990—1994. Self-reported and registered sick-leave data related to musculoskeletal diseases were collected and analyzed regarding concordance. Data about current musculoskeletal disorders and different work-related conditions were collected and analyzed regarding possible effect-and exposure-dependent misclassification. Results The test-retest reliability study showed the percentage of agreement to be between 0.88 and 0.97, and the kappa values were between 0.73 and 0.93. The validity study of the concordance between the self-reported and registered data showed high agreement and specificity, but the sensitivity was sometimes lower. All the kappa values exceeded 0.50. No effect-or exposure-dependent misclassification was found. Conclusions The validity of retrospectively collected self-reported sick-leave data was sufficient for use as a measure of musculoskeletal morbidity in the analyses of associations with work-related conditions. Because of the relatively low sensitivity, such data will underestimate the prevalence of sick leave and should not be used for surveys of morbidity.