New German language questionnaire for the standardized collation of musculoskeletal complaints in the workplace. Practicability, response stability and content validity

Background: The standardized collation of musculoskeletal symptoms is important for a valid description of the effects of physical burdens in the workplace. For this purpose, a new questionnaire version (NFB*MSB) was developed based on the original questionnaire published by Kuorinka et al. (1987). The NFB*MSB questionnaire documents the 12-month and 4-week prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and functional limitations. The aim of the pretest was to assess the practicability and the test-retest reliability of the questionnaire and to validate the contents. Methods: The questionnaire was sent by post to an ad hoc sample at two measurement time points. A descriptive analysis was carried out as well as an assessment of the test-retest reliability using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Written expert statements were used to qualitatively validate the questionnaire content. Results: A total of 83 subjects participated, including 80 in the follow-up survey. The completion time was 5-30 min. The subjects rated the questionnaire as comprehensible, clearly structured and acceptable in the scope. Depending on the body region the ICC was rated as moderate to excellent (0.67-0.89). The overall expert assessment was positive. The experts confirmed the selection, designation, and labelling of the body regions as well as the assessment of the 12-month and 4-week prevalences. They recommended the assessment of the 7-day prevalence. The results of the pretest were incorporated into the revised version of the questionnaire (FB*MSB). Discussion: The questionnaire meets the expectations with respect to practicability, retest reliability, and content validity. It is available for surveys in companies and occupational healthcare prevention. Further validation of the instrument is required based on representative samples.