The use of the Work Ability Index in occupational health (literature review)

Abstract

Due to the problem of population aging, a long working life is becoming increasingly important in modern society. Maintaining the working capacity of employees is one of the effective ways to solve the problems of workforce sustainability associated with the aging of the population. To quantify the potential possibility of continuing to work in the specialty, a group of researchers developed the Work Ability Index (WAI). A literary search was conducted for the queries “Work Ability Index”, WAI in PubMed, eLibrary and other open databases to the full depth since the appearance of the term. WAI was assumed to be based on two interrelated factors: one refers to “subjective ability to work and resources”, the other can be considered as a “health-related factor”. The advantage of the method is to combine several different factors, which should increase its predictive value. There is a correlation between the work-related stress subscales and the average WAI score. In addition to age, the duration of work experience, activity in sports, sleep quality, smoking, employment status and relationship with management and family, body mass index, and the presence of pain syndrome were important. Conclusion. The method of assessing the ability to work using the work ability index is multi-component, related to taking into account objective and subjective factors. It seems that for research it is advisable to use not only the final value of the indicator, but also the individual items that make up it, as well as the relationship of the index with the phenomena of professional burnout and self-selection. Further determination of the value of the index of working capacity in various production groups, taking into account hygienic, medical and social factors, can help prolong working life, including over old age.