New dimensions of work ability

Work ability was constructed and defined in 1981 in a follow-up study of aging employees. The conceptual definition was, “How good is the worker at present, in the near future, and how able is he or she to do his or her work with respect to the work demands, health and mental resources?” To measure the work ability, a method called Work Ability Index (WAI) was developed and its validity was tested by clinical examinations and by the follow-up inquiries over 4 and 11 years. Since 1990s, the WAI has been used widely both in research and in occupational health services. The purpose of this research was to find out what are the relationships of human resources and work life factors with WAI today in different age groups. A representative population sample was used for linear regression models of different dimensions of work ability among 30- to 64-year-old men and women (n=3157-3774). The results showed, that health and functional capacities (R2=0.39) as well as the factors of work (R2=0.33) explained the best the WAI. In the oldest group, the health (symptoms) and functional capacity (physical) (R2=0.34) and the work factors (mental strain) were strongly related to the level of WAI. The competence, values and attitudes as well as family and community factors were less significant, and their role to explain the WAI decreased with age. The results suggest that the balance between human health resources and work demands and characteristics are also today important dimensions of work ability. However, the importance of competence, attitudes and values and other life-related dimensions of work ability were confirmed and indicated the complex and multidimensional feature of work ability.