[Development of a quality of working life scale (QWL7-32)].
OBJECTIVE
To develop a simple structured scale measuring quality of working life (QWL) from the perspective of occupational health and safety.


METHODS
We identified the dimensions and items of QWL through literature review, brainstorming and expert panel discussions, and developed a pre-test questionnaire. The pre-test questionnaire was tested in school teachers and revised accordingly. The QWL Scale was eventually validated in 516 The school teachers in Chengdu. We examined the validity and reliability of the final scale (QWL7-32).


RESULTS
exploratory factor analysis extracted seven factors with an eigenvalue greater than 1. Those seven factors contributed to 60.1% of the total variance. The confirmatory factor Analysis endorsed the seven factor model. The seven-dimension scale had good convergent validity and discriminant validity. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the QWL7-32 scale and all its seven dimensions were around or higher than 0.70 (P < 0.01). The test-retest correlation coefficients of the scale and all its seven dimensions were close to or greater than 0.60 (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
The QWL7-32 scale has acceptable validity and reliability. It measures QWL in a comprehensive, specific and accurate way, and can be used as an instrument for assessing QWL.
Department of Graduate Studies, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Qin
Q
Zhang
Department of Occupational Health, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Yi-Qiong
YQ
Xie
Department of Occupational Health, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Ya-Jia
YJ
Lan
D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013663:Teaching; D014937:Work / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult