ORIGINAL PAPER
Validity test of the IPD-Work consortium approach for creating comparable job strain groups between Job Content Questionnaire and Demand-Control Questionnaire
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1
University of California, Irvine, United States of America
(Center for Occupational and Environmental Health)
2
University of California, Irvine, United States of America
(Program in Public Health)
3
Korea University, Seoul, South Korea
(Department of Environmental Health)
4
Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Gangwon-do, South Korea
(Department of Preventive Medicine)
5
Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
(Social Medicine and Global Health)
Corresponding author
Bongkyoo Choi
Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of California, Irvine, 100 Theory, Suite 100, Irvine, CA, USA
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2015;28(2):321-33
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Objectives: This study aims to test the validity of the IPD-Work Consortium approach for creating comparable job strain groups
between the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and the Demand-Control Questionnaire (DCQ). Material and Methods: A random
population sample (N = 682) of all middle-aged Malmö males and females was given a questionnaire with the 14-item JCQ
and 11-item DCQ for the job control and job demands. The JCQ job control and job demands scores were calculated in 3 different
ways: using the 14-item JCQ standard scale formulas (method 1); dropping 3 job control items and using the 11-item JCQ standard
scale formulas with additional scale weights (method 2); and the approach of the IPD Group (method 3), dropping 3 job control
items, but using the simple 11-item summation-based scale formulas. The high job strain was defined as a combination of high demands
and low control. Results: Between the 2 questionnaires, false negatives for the high job strain were much greater than false
positives (37–49% vs. 7–13%). When the method 3 was applied, the sensitivity of the JCQ for the high job strain against the DCQ
was lowest (0.51 vs. 0.60–0.63 when the methods 1 and 2 were applied), although the specificity was highest (0.93 vs. 0.87–0.89 when
the methods 1 and 2 were applied). The prevalence of the high job strain with the JCQ (the method 3 was applied) was considerably
lower (4–7%) than with the JCQ (the methods 1 and 2 were applied) and the DCQ. The number of congruent cases for the high
job strain between the 2 questionnaires was smallest when the method 3 was applied. Conclusions: The IPD-Work Consortium
approach showed 2 major weaknesses to be used for epidemiological studies on the high job strain and health outcomes as compared
to the standard JCQ methods: the greater misclassification of the high job strain and lower prevalence of the high job strain.