Little attention has been paid by employers to reduced productivity at work due to illness (presenteeism) because valid instruments to measure presenteeism are lacking. We assessed psychometric properties of the traditional Chinese version of the six-item Stanford Presenteeism Scale (CSPS-6) among Taiwanese employees in technology companies. We carried out a cross-cultural adaptation study on 196 employees. Factor analyses were used to evaluate the construct validity of the CSPS-6. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.74. The content validity of the CSPS-6 was good. Results of factor analyses confirmed the two-factor model of the CSPS-6. CSPS-6 scores were correlated with job stress (rs = −0.22, p = 0.002), the health status SF-36 (rs = 0.28 to 0.52, p < 0.0001), job satisfaction (rs = 0.41, p < 0.0001), and the presenteeism score of the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire: General Health (rs = −0.46, p < 0.0001). No correlations were found between presenteeism and the disability status (p = 0.19, F-value = 1.67, degrees of freedom = 2). The CSPS-6 was found to be reliable and valid in evaluating presenteeism of Taiwanese employees. Further studies should be undertaken to validate the CSPS-6 in other working populations and assess long-term effects of health problems associated with presenteeism.
Keywords: SPS-6; measurement properties; presenteeism; productivity; psychometric properties; reliability; traditional Chinese; validity.