Development and validity of a scale to measure workplace culture of health.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the development of and test the validity and reliability of the Workplace Culture of Health (COH) scale.


METHODS
Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed on data from a health care organization (N = 627). To verify the factor structure, confirmatory factor analysis was performed on a second data set from a medical equipment manufacturer (N = 226).


RESULTS
The COH scale included a structure of five orthogonal factors: senior leadership and polices, programs and rewards, quality assurance, supervisor support, and coworker support. With regard to construct validity (convergent and discriminant) and reliability, two different US companies showed the same factorial structure, satisfactory fit statistics, and suitable internal and external consistency.


CONCLUSIONS
The COH scale represents a reliable and valid scale to assess the workplace environment and culture for supporting health.
From the Health Management Research Center (Drs Kwon, Marzec, and Edington) and Sport Management (Dr Kwon), School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Edington Associates (Dr Edington), Ann Arbor, Mich.
Youngbum
Y
Kwon
Mary L
ML
Marzec
Dee W
DW
Edington
D000328:Adult; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000458:organization & administration; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D066192:Manufacturing Industry / Q000458:organization & administration; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D015279:Organizational Culture; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace