Reproducibility of a Questionnaire for Assessment of Physical Load During Work and Leisure Time

A self-administered questionnaire on physical load in lifetime occupational work, in present job, and in present leisure activities was tested for reproducibility with the test-retest method in 126 male and 217 female workers from 30 occupations. The questionnaire contained 92 questions and nine different response scales. The results indicated that questions concerning physical activity retrospectively and in the present job, vibrations in the present job, working postures involving the whole body, and questions concerning specific leisure activities (eg ball games, skiing, etc) seem to offer sufficient reproducibility to be worth testing for validity, at least at a 5-point ordinal level. Questions concerning working postures involving parts of the body, including awkward postures, and questions concerning manual materials handling seem to offer too poor reproducibility to be used in studies in which the aim is to quantify duration in proportions of a typical working day and frequencies in times per hour. Questions concerning level of physical activity and exertion in domestic work seem to offer too poor reproducibility to be used at a 5-point ordinal level. Gender, age, and musculoskeletal complaints did not influence the reproducibility to any great extent.