Background: Studies of the social validity of work ability evaluations are rare, although the concept can provide valuable information about the acceptability, comprehensibility and importance of procedures.
Objective: The aim of this study was to explore clients' perceptions of social validity of work ability evaluations and the following official decisions concerning sickness benefits within the Swedish sickness insurance system.
Methods: This was a longitudinal qualitative study based on interviews with 30 clients on sick leave, analyzed through deductive content analysis.
Results: Clients' understanding of the evaluation was dependent on whether the specific tests were perceived as clearly related to the clients' situation and what information they received. For a fair description of their work ability, clients state that the strict structure in the evaluation is not relevant to everyone.
Conclusion: The work ability evaluations indicate low acceptability due to lack of individual adaptation, the comprehensibility varied depending on the applicability of the evaluation and information provided, while the dimension 'importance' indicated as higher degree of social validity. The official decision about sickness benefits however was considered unrelated to the evaluation results, lacking solid arguments and sometimes contradictory to other stakeholders' recommendations indicating poor social validity.
Keywords: Acceptability; legitimacy; sick leave; sickness absence; social insurance system.