Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurological Rehabilitation, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
| [b] Department of Occupational Therapy, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
| [c] Department of Occupational Therapy, Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| [d] Division of Neurological Rehabilitation, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
| [e] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Navah Z. Ratzon, PhD, MPH, OT, Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. E-mail: navah@tauex.tau.ac.il.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:The high unemployment rate among people with disabilities (PWDs) can be attributed to barriers found in the work environment and demands of the job itself. Given the lack of comprehensive tools to identify these barriers, we developed the Employment Barriers Questionnaire (EBQ). OBJECTIVE:The objective of this study was to develop and examine the EBQ’s reliability and validity for detecting employment barriers and possible modifications to overcome them. METHODS:Two stages were conducted: stage I was a cross-sectional design. Stage II included a cross-sectional and prospective design. Thirty-nine people with physical disabilities (mean age 47.21±10.78 years) were recruited, 51% of which were employed during data collection. During stage I, we developed a first version of the EBQ (EBQ.I) and evaluated its internal reliability. The EBQ.I was filled twice, one week apart to assess test-re-test reliability. Predictive validity was tested using a regression model to predict the employment status of stage II based on EBQ.I’s results from stage I. In stage II, we generated a second version (EBQ.II) and tested its internal-reliability and known-groups validity, by comparing the EBQ.II’s results between employed and unemployed subjects. RESULTS:The results showed that the EBQ.II has a high internal-reliability (α= 0.79–0.97) and a medium-large known-groups validity (–3.95≤Z≤–2.26, p < 0.05). Additionally, the EBQ.I has a high test re-test reliability (ICC = 0.85–0.94, p < 0.001) and predictive validity (β= 0.861, p = 0.033). CONCLUSION:This study has illustrated that the EBQ.II is a unique, reliable and valid tool for identifying employment barriers and modifications to address them, expected to improve vocational rehabilitation efforts.
Keywords: Return to work, rehabilitation, vocational rehabilitation, work capacity evaluation, job demands
DOI: 10.3233/WOR-230736
Journal: Work, vol. 79, no. 3, pp. 1255-1267, 2024
