Developing a Multi-Dimensional Health Index System for a General Occupational Population in the Light of Health Ecology Theory: A Delphi Study

Abstract

Background

The health status of the occupational population is critical to the development of countries and regions as it is the main force of social and economic development. However, there is a dearth of comprehensive and systematic indicators to evaluate the health of occupational groups. This study aimed to construct a multi-dimensional evaluation index system for the general population.

Methods

This study combined a literature review and initially established a multidimensional health system framework for the occupational population based on health ecology theory and then used two rounds of Delphi expert consultation to construct the final multidimensional health index system for the occupational population. Fifteen experts from related fields were selected for two rounds of Delphi expert consultation.

Results

The recovery rates of the two rounds of expert questionnaires were 100.00% and 93.33% respectively, the expert authority coefficient were 0.90, and the Kendall’s coordination coefficients of the first and second level indexes were 0.32 and 0.42 (P ≥ 0. 001). The final index system includes four primary indicators (individual characteristics, health knowledge, health behavior, and health skills), 13 second-level indicators, and 41 third-level indicators; the weight coefficients of the four primary health dimensions are relatively close, and the “health knowledge” is slightly higher.

Conclusion

The multi-dimensional health index system of the occupational population established in this study is comprehensive and reasonable from the perspective of health ecology, which can provide a solid foundation for the further development of a comprehensive health status prediction model for the occupational population.

Keywords:

• health ecology
• delphi method
• multidimensional health
• index system

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available because of privacy concerns but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the Zhoup Research Project of the Clinical Research Center of Shanghai Health Medical University Hospital of Shanghai Pudong New Area (No.2022-C-068-E01). Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study. They were assured that their data would remain confidential.

Acknowledgments

The manuscript is also available on Research Square as a preprint which has not been peer reviewed by a journal. (https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-3110032/v1).

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; Xiaoling Zhou, Jing Wu, Ying Liu, Yuzhong Yan, Geyao Zhou and Ming Li part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; Yuzhong Yan, Ming Li, Geyao Zhou, Xiaoling Zhou, Jing Wu and Ying Liu gave final approval of the version to be published; Xiaoling Zhou and Yuzhong Yan, Jing Wu, Ying Liu, Geyao Zhou and Ming Li have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; Ming Li, Geyao Zhou, Xiaoling Zhou, Jing Wu, Ying Liu and Yuzhong Yan agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no competing interests in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Shanghai Pudong New Area Health Commission Research Project and the Clinical Research Project of Shanghai Health Medical University (Grant numbers [PW2021A-69] and [22MC2022002]). The funding bodies had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, or writing of the manuscript.