Adaptation and content validity of a battery of questionnaires for identifying occupational conditions among Chilean artisanal and small-scale miners.

IF 0.8 Q2 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL

Medwave Pub Date : 2025-09-26 DOI:10.5867/medwave.2025.08.3105

Natalia Lucero Mondaca, María Teresa Muñoz-Quezada, Cristóbal Jeldres Cáceres, Benjamín Castillo Fierro, Fabián Araya Galleguillos, Guillermo Farmer Alduce, Rolando Vilasau Domínguez, Rodrigo Villegas Ríos, Karla Yohannessen Vásquez, Dahianira Camacho Monclova, Verónica Iglesias Álamos

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Small-scale and artisanal mining are historical activities in Chile that are deeply rooted in the region and economically significant. However, their workers face high levels of exposure to occupational hazards in informal conditions, with no adapted tools for occupational health surveillance. The available instruments are designed for formal companies and do not consider the operational context of artisanal miners.

Objective: To adapt and validate the content of a battery of questionnaires designed to identify working conditions affecting artisanal and small-scale mining workers in Chile.

Methods: An instrumental study was conducted in four phases: document review of national and international protocols; participatory risk identification with union leaders; development of thematic questionnaires; content validation through the judgment of 25 experts in occupational health, mining, psychometrics, and statistics. One hundred and fifty-five items were evaluated according to criteria of clarity, relevance, sufficiency, and coherence, using Aiken's V coefficient (threshold ≥ 0.80).

Results: 87% of the items met the threshold in all four criteria. Aiken's scores ranged from 0.77 to 0.98. The diesel exposure module obtained the highest scores, while the working conditions module showed less clarity (0.77), justifying the modification or elimination of 41% of its items. A new questionnaire on exposure to chemical agents was created by integrating modules. As a result of the adjustment process, the final battery consisted of six thematic questionnaires.

Conclusions: This is the first questionnaire set with favorable content validity to assess working conditions in Chilean artisanal mining, a sector with high labor informality. It represents an initial validation step. Further studies should evaluate reliability, construct validity, and field applicability.

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为确定智利手工和小规模矿工的职业条件而编制的一系列调查问卷的适应性和内容有效性。

小规模和手工采矿是智利的历史活动，深深扎根于该地区，具有重要的经济意义。然而，他们的工人在非正式条件下面临着高度的职业危害，没有适应的职业健康监测工具。现有的工具是为正式公司设计的，没有考虑到手工采矿者的业务情况。目的：调整和验证一系列调查问卷的内容，旨在确定影响智利手工和小规模采矿工人的工作条件。方法：仪器研究分为四个阶段：国家和国际协议的文献审查；与工会领导人共同参与风险识别；编制专题问题单；通过25位职业卫生、采矿、心理测量学和统计学专家的判断进行内容验证。采用Aiken's V系数（阈值≥0.80），根据清晰度、相关性、充分性和一致性标准对155个项目进行评估。结果：87%的项目符合四项标准的阈值。艾肯的得分在0.77到0.98之间。柴油暴露模块得分最高，而工作条件模块的清晰度较低（0.77），有理由修改或删除41%的项目。通过整合模块，创建了一份新的化学试剂暴露调查问卷。由于调整过程，最后一组包括六份专题问题单。结论：这是第一套具有良好内容效度的问卷，用于评估智利手工采矿这一劳动非正式性较高的行业的工作条件。它表示初始验证步骤。进一步的研究应评估信度、结构效度和现场适用性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Medwave MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL-

CiteScore

2.60

自引率

8.30%

发文量

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Medwave is a peer-reviewed, biomedical and public health journal. Since its foundation in 2001 (Volume 1) it has always been an online only, open access publication that does not charge subscription or reader fees. Since January 2011 (Volume 11, Number 1), all articles are peer-reviewed. Without losing sight of the importance of evidence-based approach and methodological soundness, the journal accepts for publication articles that focus on providing updates for clinical practice, review and analysis articles on topics such as ethics, public health and health policy; clinical, social and economic health determinants; clinical and health research findings from all of the major disciplines of medicine, medical science and public health. The journal does not publish basic science manuscripts or experiments conducted on animals. Until March 2013, Medwave was publishing 11-12 numbers a year. Each issue would be posted on the homepage on day 1 of each month, except for Chile’s summer holiday when the issue would cover two months. Starting from April 2013, Medwave adopted the continuous mode of publication, which means that the copyedited accepted articles are posted on the journal’s homepage as they are ready. They are then collated in the respective issue and included in the Past Issues section.