Reliability and validity of the Vietnamese version of the 9‐item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale

• Published in: Journal of occupational health 2020-01, Vol.62 (1), p.e12157-n/a
• Main Authors: Tran, Thuy Thi Thu, Watanabe, Kazuhiro, Imamura, Kotaro, Nguyen, Huong Thanh, Sasaki, Natsu, Kuribayashi, Kazuto, Sakuraya, Asuka, Nguyen, Nga Thi, Bui, Thu Minh, Nguyen, Quynh Thuy, Truong, Tien Quang, Nguyen, Giang Thi Huong, Minas, Harry, Tsustumi, Akizumi, Shimazu, Akihito, Kawakami, Norito
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anxiety; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Demographic variables; Female; Hospitals; Humans; Job Satisfaction; low‐ and middle‐income countries; Male; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Nurses; Nurses - psychology; Occupational health; Original; psychometrics; Quality of Life; reliability; Reliability analysis; Reliability aspects; Reproducibility of Results; Social interactions; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Translating; Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES); Validation studies; Validity; Vietnam; Work Engagement; Work environment; Working conditions; Workplace - psychology
• ISSN: 1348-9585; 1341-9145; 1348-9585
• DOI: 10.1002/1348-9585.12157

Objectives The present study investigated the reliability and validity of a newly developed Vietnamese version of the 9‐item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES‐9‐V) in a sample of hospital nurses in Hanoi, Vietnam. Methods The UWES‐9 was translated into Vietnamese following a standard procedure. A survey was conducted of 949 registered nurses in a large tertiary general hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2018, using a self‐administered questionnaire including the Vietnamese UWES‐9, other scales measuring health status, work performance, job demand, job control, and workplace social support, and questions pertaining to demographic variables. Cronbach’s alpha and interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to assess reliability. Explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess factorial validity. Convergent validity was tested based on associations between the UWES‐9‐V and subscales and other scales. Results The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of the UWES‐9‐V and the Vigor, Absorption, and Dedication subscales were 0.93, 0.86, 0.77, and 0.90, respectively. ICC of the UWES‐9‐V in a subsample after 3 months was 0.48. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated an acceptable fit of both one‐factor and three‐factor structures, with the three‐factor model having the better fit. The UWES‐9‐V and its subscales correlated with depression, anxiety and stress, health‐related quality of life and health condition, job performance, and psychosocial work environment. Conclusions The study findings suggest that the UWES‐9‐V is a reliable and valid instrument to measure work engagement among hospital nurses in Vietnam, a low‐ and middle‐income country. Future studies should confirm the validity and reliability of the UWES‐9‐V among various occupations.