The aim of this study was to perform a cross-cultural and linguistic adaptation of the TilThermometer for use in Swedish healthcare and to evaluate its psychometric properties, including inter-rater reliability, internal consistency, and content validity, to ensure its quality as a risk assessment instrument for healthcare workers involved in patient handling and movement.
The cross-cultural adaptation of the TilThermometer followed an eight-step process, including forward and back-translation, expert panel reviews, and interviews with healthcare workers to establish linguistic validity. The psychometric evaluation involved healthcare workers who assessed six fictional patient cases with different mobility levels. Inter-rater reliability was tested using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) and internal consistency and content validity was evaluated through statistical analysis.
The process resulted in a cross-culturally adapted Swedish version of the TilThermometer. The psychometric evaluation demonstrated good to excellent inter-rater reliability ICC values ranging from 0.722 to 0.928 across different work tasks), strong internal consistency, and high content validity, with over 85% of Healthcare workers affirming the instrument's relevance and clarity. The TilThermometer proved to be both user-friendly and comprehensive in assessing the risk of physical load exposure for healthcare workers in patient handling and movement tasks.
The cross-cultural adaptation of the TilThermometer successfully ensured its linguistic and adaptation for Swedish healthcare settings. The psychometric evaluation demonstrated good to excellent inter-rater reliability, strong internal consistency, and high content validity, confirming the tool’s robustness in assessing Healthcare workers exposure to physical load. These findings suggest that the Swedish version of the TilThermometer is a reliable and valid instrument for identifying and managing risks associated with patient handling and movement, potentially contributing to improved occupational safety and health in healthcare workplaces.
The use of the TilThermometer can enable healthcare organizations to systematically assess and manage risks associated with patient handling and movement, thereby improving occupational safety and health outcomes for healthcare workers. To date, risk assessments for patient handling and movement have been insufficiently addressed in healthcare settings. This instrument has the potential to fill that gap by providing a reliable means of understanding and quantifying Healthcare workers exposure to physical load during patient handling and movement tasks, leading to better informed decision-making and targeted interventions to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
Ergonomics
Risk assessment
