Development of a short form of the Workstyle measure

Background 'Workstyle', or how a worker behaviourally, cognitively and physiologically responds to increased or stressful work demands, has been proposed to help explain the link between ergonomic and psychosocial factors in work-related upper limb disorder symptoms and disorders (WRULD). Aim To describe the psychometric properties of a shortened version of the original Workstyle measure. Methods Factor analyses of the Workstyle measure items were conducted to reduce the number of total items. Each of the subscales was then further reduced by randomly selecting half of the items within each subscale. Additionally, two subscales from the original survey (Pain/Tension and Numbness/Tingling) were eliminated because they were not used to calculate the original workstyle total score in order to reduce the influence of current symptoms on an individual's total score. Results The Workstyle Short Form was reduced to 32 items. Cronbach's alpha was 0.89 and the test-retest reliability was r = 0.88, P < 0.01, for the total score. The short form score was significantly correlated with the full workstyle total score, r = 0.98, P < 0.01. Higher total workstyle scores were significantly associated with pain, functional limitations and adverse mental and physical health. Conclusion The Workstyle Short Form demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. These findings indicate its potential utility in research on WRULD.