Reliability of O*NET physical exposures between Italian and US databases

Abstract

Background Comparison between cross‐national job‐exposure matrices (JEMs) may provide indications of their reliability, particularly if created using the same items. This study evaluated concordance between two JEMs created from United States (US) and Italian O*NET data, using job codes linked through international job codes. Methods Twenty‐one physical exposures were obtained from the US and Italian O*NET databases. Italian O*NET items were direct translations of US O*NET items. Six hundred and eighty‐four US and 586 Italian job codes were linked via crosswalks to 281 ISCO‐08 job codes. A sensitivity study also assessed concordance on 258 jobs matched one‐to‐one across the two national job classifications. Concordance of US and Italian O*NET exposures was estimated by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) in multilevel models adjusted and not adjusted for country. Results ICCs showed moderate to poor agreement for all physical exposures in jobs linked through ISCO‐08 codes. There was good to moderate agreement for 14 out of 21 exposures in models with one‐to‐one matched jobs between countries; greater agreement was found in all models adjusted for country. Exposure to whole‐body vibration, time standing, and working outdoor exposed to weather showed the highest agreement. Conclusions These results showed moderate to good agreement for most physical exposures across the two JEMs when US and Italian jobs were matched one‐to‐one and the analysis was adjusted for country. Job code assignments through crosswalks and differences in exposure levels between countries might greatly influence the observed cross‐country agreement. Future multinational epidemiological studies should consider the quality of the cross‐national job matching, and potential cross‐national differences in exposure levels.

Occupational physical activity, all-cause mortality and incidence of cardiovascular diseases: results from three Italian cohorts

“…From the 100 variables available in O*NET, a JEM was constructed for 21 physical factors, which were further reduced through Principal Component Analysis to 17 factors potentially involving high physical workload. For all 17 factors, good concordance against the same items of a corresponding O*NET JEM created in the United States has been shown (d’Errico et al 2022a ). Of the 17 items, 3 focused on force exertion (static strength; dynamic strength; trunk strength), 6 on activity level and repetitive movements of the upper limb (manual dexterity; fingers dexterity; wrist-finger speed; handling and moving objects; time spent making repetitive motions; time spent using hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls), 4 on postures (awkward positions; standing; kneeling, crouching, stooping, or crawling; bending and twisting the body), 2 items on activities involving the whole body (performing generalized physical activity; walking and running), 2 items on exposure to vibration (whole-body vibration, driving vehicles or other types of moving machinery).…”

Incidence of knee and hip joint replacement associated with cumulative exposure to physical factors at work

“…Exposure to physical workload was assigned to the study population through a JEM, constructed from the Italian O*NET database, on 21 physical factors, 21 which were further reduced through principal component analysis to 17 factors potentially involving high physical workload 22 . For all 17 factors, good concordance against the same items of a corresponding O*NET JEM created in the United States has been shown 21 …”

“…22 For all 17 factors, good concordance against the same items of a corresponding O*NET JEM created in the United States has been shown. 21 Of the 17 items, 3 focused on force exertion (static strength; dynamic strength; trunk strength), 6 on activity level and repetitive movements of the upper limb (manual dexterity; fingers dexterity; wrist-finger speed; handling and moving objects; time spent making repetitive motions; time spent using hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls), 4 on postures (awkward positions; standing; kneeling, crouching, stooping, or crawling; bending and twisting the body), 2 items on activities involving the whole body (performing generalized physical activity; walking and running), and 2 items on exposure to vibration (whole-body vibration, driving vehicles or other types of moving machinery).…”