Project Details
Projekt
Development of a standardized instrument to assess mental demands at work influencing cognitive functioning and dementia
Subject Area
Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
Term
from 2017 to 2019
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 353552904
Increasing numbers of individuals with dementia impose major challenges for the society and the health care systems. Evidence from a variety of research studies suggest that dementia risk can be influenced by lifestyle factors. One lifestyle factor that is suggested to have a considerable protective effect on cognitive decline and dementia are mental demands at work; this is relevant in so far that individuals are confronted with for many hours every day and for a long lifetime period. Findings of own previous work revealed that individuals with high mental demands at work had a significantly better cognitive functioning in old age and a significantly lower risk of dementia than individuals with low demands. In general, however, mental demands at work have received only little attention in dementia research. In order to advance the current state of research on this important lifestyle factor and to enable the realization of first intervention and prevention studies, there is a principle need for a validated and standardized instrument to assess the relevant mental demands at work. The aim of the intended project is to develop such an instrument.The development of the instrument will be realized in accordance with internationally recognized scientific standards (PROMIS, EuStat) and will be based on own previously accomplished work (including a systematic review and comprehensive analyses) as well as internationally published research findings. Evidence of quantitative as well as qualitative research will be taken into account. Specifically, the process of developing the instrument will comprise (i) generating an item pool for the instrument based on relevant scientific concepts and scientific findings, (ii) a pre-test including the evaluation of a preliminary version of the instrument by expert focus groups and potential end-users, and (iii) the validation of the instrument in a sample of employees through psychometric analysis and with respect to the cognitive status.The aim of the proposed project is to provide an instrument that assesses mental demands at work which influence cognitive functioning and dementia. The instrument should help future studies to advance research on this important lifestyle factor and may thus, in the long-run, contribute to decrease the burden due to dementia for individuals and the society.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
Co-Investigators
Professor Dr. Tobias Luck; Professorin Dr. Steffi G. Riedel-Heller
