Development and validation of a fatigue assessment scale for U.S. construction workers

Abstract

Objective To develop a fatigue assessment scale and test its reliability and validity for commercial construction workers. Methods Using a two-phased approach, we first identified items for the development of a Fatigue Assessment Scale for Construction Workers (FASCW) through review of existing scales in the scientific literature, key informant interviews (n=11) and focus groups (3 groups with 6 workers each) with construction workers. The second phase included assessment for the reliability, validity and sensitivity of the new scale using a repeated-measures study design with a convenience sample of construction workers (n=144). Results Phase one resulted in a 16-item preliminary scale that after factor analysis yielded a final 10-item scale with two sub-scales (“Lethargy” and “Bodily Ailment”).. During phase two, the FASCW and its subscales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (alpha coefficients were FASCW (0.91), Lethargy (0.86) and Bodily Ailment (0.84)) and acceptable test-retest reliability (Pearson Correlations Coefficients: 0.59–0.68; Intraclass Correlation Coefficients: 0.74–0.80). Correlation analysis substantiated concurrent and convergent validity. A discriminant analysis demonstrated that the FASCW differentiated between groups with arthritis status and different work hours. Conclusions The 10-item FASCW with good reliability and validity is an effective tool for assessing the severity of fatigue among construction workers.

Development of the Fatigue Risk Assessment and Management in High-Risk Environments (FRAME) Survey: A Participatory Approach

“…Figure 1 illustrates the flowchart for number of articles identified in each of the steps described above. Ultimately, 14 peer-reviewed articles were included and reviewed, which yielded 12 widely used surveys, scales, or questionnaires (2 surveys were duplicated) [12,23,32,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49]. This resulted in 230 question items.…”

“…The Delphi consensus technique is an iterative process that typically involves three to four rounds of questionnaires until consensus is reached regarding a specific topic. This technique has been employed successfully toward the development of human factors risk quantification in oil and gas drilling operations [31], fatigue surveys [32], as well as medical checklists used for safe surgical practices [33,34], and forecasting and issue identification, and framework development [35,36]. Since the Delphi consensus technique has been successfully applied in the OGE sector for human factors and in the use of other fatigue survey development, this technique provides a method that would be ideal for the development of an OGE specific fatigue survey.…”

Evaluation of Physiological Metrics as Real-Time Measurement of Physical Fatigue in Construction Workers: State-of-the-Art Review

“…In early 90s, various subjective questionnaires were developed to quantify physical fatigue in the general population (Lee et al, 1991;Chalder et al, 1993). Later, many constructions-related studies have developed various subjective questionnaires to measure workload or physical fatigue in construction workers (Chan et al, 2012;Fang et al, 2015;Mitropoulos and Memarian, 2013;Yi et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2015).…”

Automated Monitoring of Physical Fatigue Using Jerk

“…Thus, numerous objective and subjective fatigue assessments have been developed for specific industry requirement such as construction, manufacturing, and healthcare. Several work-related studies have developed or used various subjective scales and questionnaires for assessing fatigue or perceived exertion [5]- [7]. Aside from the inherent discrepancies that is expected between one's perceived fatigue and one's true level of fatigue, subjective measures are also cumbersome to implement and are not realistic for use on construction sites [8].…”