The reproducibility of two task-specific functional capacity evaluation protocols for household waste collectors.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess the reproducibility (i.e., agreement and inter-rater reliability) of two task-specific functional capacity evaluation protocols meant to simulate the daily workload of collectors using either two-wheeled waste containers or bags.


METHODS
A within-subjects design was used to assess reproducibility in terms of agreement and reliability. Twenty-one household waste collectors were assessed twice with both task-specific protocols with a time interval of seven days. Agreement was assessed using the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM), and inter-rater reliability was assessed using the Intra-Class Correlation Coefficient (ICC).


RESULTS
For the task-specific protocol for waste collection using two-wheeled containers, agreement was excellent (SEM=0.9 points; 0-340 scale; mean score 339), but inter-rater reliability was poor (ICC=0.22). For the task-specific protocol for bag collection, agreement was acceptable (SEM=53 s; continuous scale; mean time 779 s), and inter-rater reliability was good (ICC=0.79).


CONCLUSIONS
Reproducibility of the task-specific protocol for bag collection is acceptable to good, while the task-specific protocol for waste collection using two-wheeled containers has an excellent agreement but a poor reliability. Although face and content validity have been covered within the development of both protocols, further studies should evaluate the construct and criterion-related validity of both task-specific protocols.
Vincent
V
Gouttebarge
Marie-Christine J
MC
Plat
P Paul F M
PP
Kuijer
Judith K
JK
Sluiter
Monique H W
MH
Frings-Dresen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000295:instrumentation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation; D055815:Young Adult
Functional capacity evaluation; reproducibility; waste collection; work ability