Malay Translation and Reliability Testing of Return to Work Self-Efficacy (RTWSE-19) Scale among Patients with Work-Related Musculoskeletal Injuries.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70672/d33rd580Keywords:
Malaysia, return-to-work, rehabilitation, self-efficacy, validation.Abstract
Introduction: The Return to Work Self-Efficacy Scale (RTWSE-19) is a widely used tool designed to assess individuals' confidence in their ability to return to work following injury or illness. This study aimed to translate, cross-culturally adapt, and preliminarily validate the RTWSE-19 into Malay among patients with work-related musculoskeletal injuries in a rehabilitation setting in Malaysia. Method: The translation process followed established guidelines, including forward and backward translation, expert committee review, and pilot testing. Pre-testing was conducted among 30 patients at Pusat Rehabilitasi PERKESO Tun Abdul Razak (PRPTAR), Melaka, and was followed by reliability testing in a separate validation sample (n=23). The validity was determined by the content and face validity index and test-retest reliability was assessed using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) between day 0 (admission) and day 7. Results: Content validity was evaluated using the Content Validity Index (S-CVI/Ave=0.98) and Face Validity Index (S-FVI/Ave=0.95), demonstrating excellent clarity and relevance. Internal consistency for the three subscales - (i) “Meeting Job Demands” (α = 0.88), (ii) “Modifying Job Tasks” (α = 0.86), and (iii) “Communicating Needs to Others” (α = 0.90) showed good reliability. Test-retest reliability demonstrated strong stability (ICC = 0.89, 0.84, and 0.89, respectively). Conclusion: The Malay RTWSE-19 shows promising reliability in this pilot sample. Given the small sample size and absence of construct validation, findings should be interpreted with caution. Further studies with larger populations are needed to establish full psychometric properties, including construct and predictive validity.
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