Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) Tool

Details

• Personal Author:
  Albin TJ ; Gerberich, Susan G. ; Schwartz AH ; Albin TJ ; Gerberich, Susan G. ; Schwartz AH
• Description:
  Background: Ergonomics researchers and practitioners use many techniques to assess risk. The Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) is a common tool used to facilitate the measurement and evaluation of the risks associated with working postures as a part of ergonomic workload. However, little work has been reported regarding the reliability of REBA reporting. Objective: This study assesses the reliability of this commonly used tool for research and practice. Methods: The study was conducted as part of the larger Safe Workload Ergonomic Exposure Project (SWEEP), which is a University of Minnesota research initiative for custodians. For this effort, a secondary data analysis was conducted on data collected during a study of custodians' exposures to risks of musculoskeletal disorders. Eight observers used the REBA tool to sequentially evaluate tasks performed two times in succession by the same individual. Results: This study reports high intra-rater reliability (ICC = 0.925) for REBA raw scores and moderate inter-rater reliability (IRR) (Fleiss kappa = 0.54) for a categorical scoring of REBA. Conclusion: A moderate amount of IRR was found, and a standardized training and calibration protocol is proposed as a potential means to improve intra- and inter-rater reliability. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Assessment Author Keywords: Intra-rater Reliability Body Mechanics Custodians Inter-rater Reliability MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders Posture REBA Risk Assessment
• ISSN:
  0169-8141
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  111-116
• Volume:
  71
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064046
• Citation:
  Int J Ind Ergon 2019 May; 71:111-116
• Email:
  schw1562@umn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:df7e9b9daeaa6e89bfd3e2e4aa366576ea2ad646a8f666f2073284daac4280723d1cbf3f8b19b5e1266358b1fe20b017e01081966081eb34a834c22fc828e9bd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222572/cdc_222572_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 618.40 KB ]