Reproducibility of a self-report questionnaire for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorder risk factors

A self-report questionnaire was developed to evaluate the potential for assessment of possible risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders. Visual-analog and categorical scales were designed to represent responses relating to primary work as well as a second job and hobbies or non-work activities. 71 tree nursery workers completed the scales twice in consecutive weeks. Agreement between means of the two questionnaire administrations was 0.80 or higher for all scales. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged between 0.59 and 0.69 for the primary job hand/wrist responses and between 0.49 and 0.82 for non-work/hobby neck and upper arm scales. These results show potential for future application of similar scales in industry or temporary and seasonal work to evaluate exposure to upper extremity risk factors.