Reliability of a new risk assessment method for visual ergonomics

作者：Camilla Zetterberg, Marina Heiden, Per Lindberg, Per Nylén, Hillevi Hemphälä · 发表于：International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1016/j.ergon.2019.04.002 · 被引用次数：33 · 研究领域：Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders、Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation、Occupational health in dentistry

Introduction The Visual Ergonomics Risk Assessment Method (VERAM) is a newly developed and validated method to assess visual ergonomics at workplaces. VERAM consists of a questionnaire and an objective evaluation. Objective To evaluate reliability of VERAM by assessing test-retest reliability of the questionnaire, and intra- and inter-rater reliability of the objective evaluation. Methods Forty-eight trained evaluators used VERAM to evaluate visual ergonomics at 174 workstations. The time interval for test-retest and intra-rater evaluations was 2–3 weeks, and the time interval for inter-rater evaluations was 0–2 days. Test-retest reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation (ICC), the standard error of measurement (SEM) and the smallest detectable change (SDC). Intra- and inter-rater reliability were assessed with weighted kappa coefficients and absolute agreement. Systematic changes were analysed with repeated measures analyses of variance and Wilcoxon sign rank test. Results The ICC of the questionnaire indices ranged from 0.69 to 0.87, while SEM ranged from 7.21 to 10.19 on a scale from 1 to 100, and SDC from 14.42 to 20.37. Intra-rater reliability of objective evaluations ranged from 0.57 to 0.85 (kappa coefficients) and the agreement from 69 to 91%. Inter-rater reliability of objective evaluations ranged from 0.37 to 0.72 (kappa coefficients) and the agreement from 52 to 87%. Conclusion VERAM is a reliable instrument for assessing risks in visual work environments....