Development and validation of an Interdisciplinary Worker’s Health Approach Instrument (IWHAI)

Abstract

The present study aimed to develop and validate an Interdisciplinary Worker’s Health Approach Instrument (IWHAI). The development stage comprised a group of 10 professionals, including physicians, nurses, nutritionists, dentists and physical educators, as well as a judges’ committee, composed by 19 recognized experts in the area of worker’s health (WH). For the validation of the IWHAI, the Spearman’s correlation coefficient (rs) was calculated, the factor analysis to the instrument was applied, and the Cronbach’s alpha (α) and the Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated. The IWHAI was structured in five dimensions, integrating 43 health indicators, on a scale of 0–4, totalling 215 sub-indices with closed response coding. The instrument was validated with a Kappa coefficient (KAPPA) (k), with excellent agreement for all attributes, i.e., k = 0.88 for applicability, k = 0.80 for clarity and k = 0.82 for relevance. p > 0.05 results reveal moderate to strong positive correlations between some variables, i.e., pests, vectors and air quality/drinking water quality (rs = 0.69). A total of 14 components of the factor analysis, explaining 62.6% of the data variance, were extracted. α value is considered moderate to high, α = 0.61, the ICC value also being considered moderate to high, with ICC = 0.61. The IWHAI is considered validated, constituting a technological innovation for an interdisciplinary approach in the field of WH, enabling the prevention and integral promotion of health.