Affiliations: Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences,
Section of Caring Science, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden | Department of Rehabilitation Clinic, Karolinska
Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden | Department of Occupational Therapy, Boston University,
Boston, USA
Note: [] Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Section of
Caring Science, Uppsala University, Uppsala Science Park, S-75183 Uppsala,
Sweden. Tel.: +46 18 471 34 87; Fax: +46 18 471 34 90; E-mail:
Ingrid.Soderback@ccs.uu.se
Abstract: {\it Objectives.} This study involved Swedish workers (n = 106) who
perform jobs categorized into four occupational groups from Jist's Enhanced
Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) (Technical, Clerical, Service and
Miscellaneous occupations) [1]. The workers capacity for work were investigated
according to the Criterion Referenced Multidimensional Vocational Assessment
(CMVA) comprising four aspects (described below), which were assessed in 14
different ways using 465 items. {\it Method}. The participants were interviewed
[2], observed during performance of simulated work tasks [3], and answered
mailed questionnaires [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. The collected data were
statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics and the tests of Cronbach's
alpha coefficient, ANOVA, Chi-square, linear regression and Pearson's
correlation coefficient. {\it Results.} The participants' work contained
different level of occupationally substantive complexity showing that {\it the
work demands} were different for the four work groups. For some of the
participants ill-health were detected; The workers' work skills, e.g., {\it the
demands} (VALPAR work samples) [3] {\it the jobs required of the worker} was
higher than 14 of the workers' capacity for work. It was remarkable that many
of the workers (34%) estimated themselves in need for rehabilitative measures
(Functional Status Questionnaire) [12,13]. The results suggested that there was
a negative discrepancy of what the workers' valued and strived for in
connection to what they had attained in their work-lives [15,16]. The {\it
psychosocial work environment influenced} the worker both positively and
negatively. Participants (about 17%) who are performing their usual work for at
least 20 hours a week had risks for ill-health [6]. In several components of
CMVA there were significant differences between male and female workers,
probably showing that the female workers had a greater burden to perform all
the myriad of daily occupations (Self-Assessed Capabilities to Perform Daily
Occupations) [7] including salaried work.
Keywords: capacity for work, occupational performance, occupational rehabilitation, occupational therapy, public health, prevention, skill
