[Validation of a questionnaire for psychosocial risk assessment in the workplace in Chile]

Abstract

Background: The measurement of psychosocial risk among workers is becoming increasingly important.

Aim: To adapt, validate and standardize a questionnaire to measure psychosocial risks in the workplace.

Material and methods: The Spanish version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire was adapted and evaluated. Its contents were first validated with a panel of experts. Afterwards a semantic adaptation of the questionnaires was carried out applying it to a pilot sample. Finally, it was applied to 1,557 workers (65% men).

Results: A preliminary questionnaire containing 97 questions was constructed. A good item-test correlation was found, the factorial structure was similar to the original questionnaire and it had a good internal consistency, convergent validity with the Goldberg Health Questionnaire and test-retest correlation. Ranges for the different dimensions and sub-dimensions of psychosocial risk were calculated by tertiles.

Conclusions: The resulting questionnaire is useful for measuring psychosocial risk factors at work, with good psychometric properties.