title: Relationship between the self-assessment and clinical assessment of health status and work ability.
abstract: Clinical assessments of health status and work ability were compared with subjective assessments reported on a questionnaire. The clinical examinations included cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and psychological measurements. The subjective work ability comprised an index based on estimations of work ability in relation to diseases, job demands, and psychological resources. For the clinical examinations 89 male and 85 female workers aged 44-58 years were selected according to health and subjective work ability as reported on the questionnaire. Half of the group was healthy and half suffered from either coronary artery disease (men) or low-back pain (women), and the subjective estimations of work ability varied from good to poor. The results indicated that the questionnaire responses on health and work ability related well with the clinically assessed factors at the group level. Some divergence was detected at the individual level, but it could usually be explained on the basis of the available data.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Health, Department of Psychology, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eskelinen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kohvakka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Merisalo
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hurri
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wägar
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D001416:Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation