Worker role interview: Toward validation of a psychosocial work-related measure

Three studies were conducted to examine the validity of the Worker Role Interview (WRI), a semi-structured interview and rating scale designed to assess psychosocial capacity for return to work in injured workers. The first Rasch analysis study of 119 work-hardening clients with low back pain showed that scale items worked together to measure unidimensional construct, except for two work-environment items (work setting and boss); and the items were logically ordered representing the least to most psychosocial capacity for return to work. The second Rasch analysis study involved a refined scale (including redefinition of environment items to reflect the worker's perception of the environment) applied to 55 work-hardening clients with diverse injuries. All items except perception of boss defined a unidimensional construct. The ordering of items was similar to that in the first study and similar across two different diagnostic groups (low back and upper extremity injuries), indicating the scale was sample invariant. The third study of 42 work-hardening clients examined the predictive validity of the WRI. A logistic regression, which included demographic variables (chronicity, diagnosis, number-of-surgeries, attorney involvement and age), showed that none of the variables predicted return to work (odds ratio ranged from 0.3-1.0). This initial series of studies present a theoretically based instrument, which shows promising psychometric qualities. While the predictive study indicated that the WRI was not useful in predicting return to work, this finding may have been a function of the small n-size in the study or that the WRI may mediate its effect through other variables.