Translation and psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the perceived workplace environment scale in Taiwanese information technology professionals.
BACKGROUND
The six-item Perceived Workplace Environment Scale (PWES) is a self-report instrument designed to measure employees' perceptions of the extent to which their workplace environment supports employee physical activity. A Chinese version is needed to facilitate workplace physical activity research in Chinese speaking countries.


OBJECTIVE
This paper describes the translation process and the psychometric properties of the newly translated Chinese version of the PWES (PWES-C).


METHODS
The PWES in English was translated into Chinese using a modified committee approach with the consideration of cross-cultural equivalence. Psychometric properties were examined by a cross-sectional survey of 466 male and 109 female Taiwanese information technology (IT) professionals from three IT companies in northern Taiwan.


RESULTS
Content validity of the newly translated PWES-C was supported by a panel of experts. Internal consistency reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha=0.88), and no significant ceiling and floor effects were observed for the PWES-C. Construct validity was supported by examining the factor structure of the PWES-C using a confirmatory factor analysis, and the results suggest a single-factor structure.


CONCLUSIONS
The PWES-C is a reliable and valid measure of perceived workplace physical activity environments in Taiwanese IT professionals. The scale could be used by employers to document employees' perception of the workplace environment.
School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. yunping@umich.edu
Yun-Ping
YP
Lin
Tsui-Sui Annie
TS
Kao
Marjorie C
MC
McCullagh
Dee W
DW
Edington
Janet L
JL
Larson
D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*