Habibollah Dehghan1, Seyed Bagher Mortzavi2, Mohamad Javad Jafari3, Mohamad Reza Maracy4. 1. Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. ha_dehghan@hlth.mui.ac.ir. 2. Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.mortazavi@modares.ac.ir. 3. Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 4. Environment Research Center and Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Current heat stress indices are not completely suitable for heat strain screening in developing countries due to their inherent and applied limitations. The aim of this study was development of a questionnaire method entitled "Heat Strain Score Index" (HSSI) in order to perform a preliminary assessment of heat stress at work. METHODS: This research included six phases (i) Item generation (ii) Content validity (iii) Reliability analysis (iv)Structure validity (v) Concurrent validity and (vi) Classification of thermal risk level. In item generation phase, 40 items were identified to have impact on the heat strain. Content validity was evaluated by occupational health specialists. RESULTS: In consistency assessment, Cronbach's coefficient (α) of items was 0.91. Exploratory factor analysis on items HSSI draft identified four subscales which explained 71.6% of the variance. Correlation between the HSSI score with aural temperature was 0.73. Cut-off point; sensitivity and specificity for upper no thermal strain zone were 13.5, 91% and 50%, respectively. Whereas Cut-off point, sensitivity and specificity for lower thermal strain zone were 18, 86% and 73%. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that 18 variables that were measurable through subjective judgment and observation in the HSSI scale covered heat stress key factors. This scale demonstrated reliability and initial validity in scale were suitable. Therefore HSSI scale for primary evaluation heat stress is appropriate.
BACKGROUND: Current heat stress indices are not completely suitable for heat strain screening in developing countries due to their inherent and applied limitations. The aim of this study was development of a questionnaire method entitled "Heat Strain Score Index" (HSSI) in order to perform a preliminary assessment of heat stress at work. METHODS: This research included six phases (i) Item generation (ii) Content validity (iii) Reliability analysis (iv)Structure validity (v) Concurrent validity and (vi) Classification of thermal risk level. In item generation phase, 40 items were identified to have impact on the heat strain. Content validity was evaluated by occupational health specialists. RESULTS: In consistency assessment, Cronbach's coefficient (α) of items was 0.91. Exploratory factor analysis on items HSSI draft identified four subscales which explained 71.6% of the variance. Correlation between the HSSI score with aural temperature was 0.73. Cut-off point; sensitivity and specificity for upper no thermal strain zone were 13.5, 91% and 50%, respectively. Whereas Cut-off point, sensitivity and specificity for lower thermal strain zone were 18, 86% and 73%. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that 18 variables that were measurable through subjective judgment and observation in the HSSI scale covered heat stress key factors. This scale demonstrated reliability and initial validity in scale were suitable. Therefore HSSI scale for primary evaluation heat stress is appropriate.
Authors: Michela Bonafede; Miriam Levi; Emma Pietrafesa; Alessandra Binazzi; Alessandro Marinaccio; Marco Morabito; Iole Pinto; Francesca De' Donato; Valentina Grasso; Tiziano Costantini; Alessandro Messeri Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-07-04 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Saeid Yazdanirad; Farideh Golbabaei; Mohammad Reza Monazzam; Habibollah Dehghan; Abbas Rahimi Foroushani Journal: Indian J Occup Environ Med Date: 2020-08-19