Introduction to the Work Ability Index – A Guide for Rehabilitation Practitioners

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to introduce the _Work Ability Index_ to a rehabilitation audience and to provide some background on its scope and features. As an indication of its popularity, (a) it is available in 26 languages; (b) it has been applied for more than twenty years and (c) from 1991 there are 388 records including “Work Ability Index” in PubMed. A summary of the data from 29 previous studies of 31,472 participants is provided and it indicated an overall mean of 38.94. Overall this mean would be categorised as a “good” work ability index. As expected, studies of rehabilitation or illness samples indicate “poor” work ability. Each of the 10 questions in the assessment is introduced. The conceptual nature of work ability is reviewed and some issues are raised about the validity of the scoring of the assessment. A conceptual framework for the work ability process is outlined.