Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Persian Version of Quality of Work Life Questionnaire based on the Walton Model in a Sample of Hospital Employees

Given the importance of quality of work life (QWL), several models are proposed for it. A well-known model is the Walton's model. The purpose of the present study was exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the Persian version of QWL questionnaire based on the Walton model in hospital employees who are generally exposed to job-related QWL attenuating factors.   This descriptive cross-sectional study was a validation study. The statistical population included all medical, non-medical and headquarter staff of PourSina State Hospital in Rasht of whom, 403 employees were selected by quota sampling. First, the QWL data was subjected to an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n=350) and then, for selected factors, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indices and internal consistency coefficients (n=53) were investigated. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS-22 and AMOS-21software packages.   The EFA results showed four factors for the structure of this test, which totally explained 52.87% of the total variance of the questionnaire. In addition, this analysis showed that 15 items of the original version of the questionnaire have high factor loading in two factors and therefore in the evaluation of the model with the CFA method, these items were eliminated. Also, CFA demonstrated that χ2/df ratio for the four-factor QWL-20 structure is 1.216 and the fitness indices for the model (GFI=0.773, CFI=0.913, NFI=0.674, TLI=0.893, RMSEA=0.065) are relatively satisfactory.The internal consistency for the total QWL-20 is equal to 0.91 and it was remarkable for the factors of working conditions and utilization of capabilities (α=0.71), social integration in work and respect for employee's rights (α=0.80),volume of work and suitability of pay and benefits (α=0.88) and social relationships and importance of work(α=0.80).The correlation coefficient of item-total score was very strong for each item and it was in the range of 0.66 to 0.84. The range of correlation between these factors was 0.45 to 0.54.   QWL-20 has favorable psychometric properties and an appropriate fit in the four-factor structure and can be used in QWL threatening situations.