1999). However, contextual factors can also influence the results of self-assessed work relatedness e.g., the way the information on study objectives is presented to the participants (Brauer and Mikkelsen 2003) or the news media attention to the subject (Fleisher and Kay 2006). When evaluating self-reported work-related ill health, it is necessary to consider (1) the validation of the self-report
of symptoms, signs, or illness, being the self-evaluation of health and (2) the self-assessment of work relatedness of the illness, being the self-evaluation of causality. To do BIX 1294 this, we can consider self-report as a diagnostic test for the existence of a work-related disease and study the diagnostic accuracy. GDC-0449 price In addition, when synthesizing data from such “diagnostic accuracy studies”, it is important to explore the influence of sources of heterogeneity across studies,
related to the health condition measured, the self-report measures used, the chosen reference standard, and the overall study quality. Our primary objective was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the self-report of Bay 11-7085 work-related illness as an indicator for the presence of a work-related disease as assessed by an expert, usually a physician, using clinical examination with or without further testing (e.g., audiometry, spirometry, and blood tests) in working populations.
The research questions we wanted to answer were: 1. What is the evidence on the validity of workers’ self-reported illness? 2. What is the evidence on the validity of workers’ self-assessed work relatedness (of their illness)? Methods Search methods for identification of studies An electronic search was performed on three databases as follows: Medline (through PubMed), Embase (through Ovid), and PsycINFO (through Ovid). To identify studies, a cutoff date of 01-01-1990 was imposed, and the review was limited to articles and reports published in English, German, French, Spanish, and Dutch. To answer the research questions, a search string was built after exploring the concepts of work-related ill health, self-report, measures, validity, and reliability (details Box 1). To identify additional studies, the reference lists of all relevant studies were checked.