School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Sports Science, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8, Dublin, Ireland.
Centre for Safety & Health at Work, School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Sports Science, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8, Dublin, Ireland.
BMC Public Health. 2022 Jan 12;22(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-12500-w.
Despite widespread COVID-19 vaccination programs, there is an ongoing need for targeted disease prevention and control efforts in high-risk occupational settings. This study aimed to develop, pilot, and validate an instrument for surveying occupational COVID-19 infection prevention and control (IPC) measures available to workers in diverse geographic and occupational settings.
A 44-item online survey was developed in English and validated for face and content validity according to literature review, expert consultation, and pre-testing. The survey was translated and piloted with 890 workers from diverse industries in Canada, Ireland, Argentina, Poland, Nigeria, China, the US, and the UK. Odds ratios generated from univariable, and multivariable logistic regression assessed differences in 'feeling protected at work' according to gender, age, occupation, country of residence, professional role, and vaccination status. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted, and internal consistency reliability verified with Cronbach's alpha. Hypothesis testing using two-sample t-tests verified construct validity (i.e., discriminant validity, known-groups technique), and criterion validity.
After adjustment for occupational sector, characteristics associated with feeling protected at work included being male (AOR = 1.88; 95% CI = 1.18,2.99), being over 55 (AOR = 2.17; 95% CI = 1.25,3.77) and working in a managerial position (AOR = 3.1; 95% CI = 1.99,4.83). EFA revealed nine key IPC domains relating to: environmental adjustments, testing and surveillance, education, costs incurred, restricted movements, physical distancing, masking, isolation strategies, and areas for improvement. Each domain showed sufficient internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha ≥0.60). Hypothesis testing revealed differences in survey responses by country and occupational sector, confirming construct validity (p < 0.001), criterion validity (p = 0.04), and discriminant validity (p < 0.001).
The online survey, developed in English to identify the COVID-19 protective measures used in diverse workplace settings, showed strong face validity, content validity, internal consistency, criterion validity, and construct validity. Translations in Chinese, Spanish, French, Polish, and Hindi demonstrated adaptability of the survey for use in international working environments. The multi-lingual tool can be used by decision makers in the distribution of IPC resources, and to guide occupational safety and health (OSH) recommendations for preventing COVID-19 and future infectious disease outbreaks.
尽管已广泛开展了 COVID-19 疫苗接种计划，但在高风险职业环境中仍需要持续开展有针对性的疾病预防和控制工作。本研究旨在开发、试点和验证一种工具，以调查不同地理和职业环境中工人可获得的职业 COVID-19 感染预防和控制（IPC）措施。
用英语编写了一个 44 项的在线调查，并根据文献回顾、专家咨询和预测试对其进行了验证，以确保其具有良好的表面效度和内容效度。该调查经过翻译和在加拿大、爱尔兰、阿根廷、波兰、尼日利亚、中国、美国和英国的 890 名来自不同行业的工人中进行了试点。使用单变量和多变量逻辑回归分析，根据性别、年龄、职业、居住国家、专业角色和疫苗接种状况计算“在工作中感到受到保护”的比值比，以评估其差异。使用探索性因子分析（EFA）进行分析，并使用 Cronbach's alpha 检验内部一致性可靠性。使用两样本 t 检验进行假设检验，以验证结构效度（即判别效度、已知组技术）和效标效度。
在调整了职业部门后，与工作中感到受到保护相关的特征包括男性（比值比[OR] = 1.88；95%置信区间[CI] = 1.18,2.99）、年龄大于 55 岁（OR = 2.17；95% CI = 1.25,3.77）和担任管理职位（OR = 3.1；95% CI = 1.99,4.83）。EFA 揭示了与以下九个关键 IPC 领域相关的九个关键 IPC 领域：环境调整、测试和监测、教育、成本支出、限制流动、物理距离、掩蔽、隔离策略和改进领域。每个领域都显示出足够的内部一致性可靠性（Cronbach's alpha ≥0.60）。假设检验显示，国家和职业部门的调查结果存在差异，从而证实了结构效度（p<0.001）、效标效度（p=0.04）和判别效度（p<0.001）。
该在线调查是用英语开发的，旨在确定在不同工作场所环境中使用的 COVID-19 保护措施，具有良好的表面效度、内容效度、内部一致性、效标效度和结构效度。中文、西班牙语、法语、波兰语和印地语的翻译表明，该调查具有在国际工作环境中使用的适应性。该多语言工具可用于决策者分配 IPC 资源，并指导职业安全与健康（OSH）建议，以预防 COVID-19 和未来的传染病爆发。
