RESEARCH PAPER
Work Ability Index (WAI) values in a sample of the working population in Poland
 
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1
Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
 
2
Department of Health Economics and Medical Law, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
 
3
Department of Economic and System Analyses, National Institute of Public Health – NIH, Warsaw, Poland
 
4
Collegium od Business Administration, Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland
 
5
Department of Occupational Diseases and Toxicology Clinic, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland
 
6
Department of Gynaecology and Oncology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
 
7
Institute of Public Health, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
 
8
Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University, Warsaw, Poland
 
 
Corresponding author
Aleksandra Izabela Czerw   

Department of Public Health , Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Zwirki Wigury, 08-456 warsaw, Poland
 
 
Ann Agric Environ Med. 2019;26(1):78-84
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Ability to work is most often defined as a relationship between a person’s resources and requirements specific to a particular type of work. It is the result of interaction between job requirements in terms of physical and mental strain, capabilities and skills of the employee, as well as his/her health condition and own evaluation of functioning in a given organizational and social situation.

Objective:
The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the current value of the Work Ability Index (WAI) in a sample of employees in Poland.

Material and methods:
The study sample was selected purposefully from 422,000 employees covered by the largest occupational health provider in Poland. The standard WAI questionnaire provided by CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interview) methodology was voluntary and completed anonymously by 688 employees within 12 months (0.16% response rate). The results were statistically analyzed using the Pearson’s chi-squared test and correlation coefficient, independent-sample T test and one-way analysis of variance (p<0.05).

Results:
It was found that the average value of WAI was 37.5 ± 7.7, and 37% of the participants represented low to moderate ability to work. The results showed no significant correlation between the WAI value and its 7 compounds and demographic variables. Nonetheless, a dependency between WAI level and industrial branch was observed.

Conclusions:
Subjects with moderate and low WAI (1/3 of the study population) had particular indications to implement prophylactic actions, especially for the health care employees and civil servants, whose ability to work may be subject to accelerated deterioration.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank LUX MED Ltd., Poland, for granting them access to the www.luxmed.pl website, and for the free programming of the research questionnaire.
 
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eISSN:1898-2263
ISSN:1232-1966
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