Pilot Study of the Malay Maslach Burnout Inventory and Malay Work-Related Quality of Life Scale in Malaysia

Abstract

It was important to establish a reliable Malay Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Malay work related quality of life scale (WRQoL) to address the issue of burnout and work related quality of life in Malaysia. Specifically, the MBI instrument encompassed Maslach Burnout Inventory – Health Services Survey (MBI-HSS), Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Services (MBI-GS), Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Surveys (MBI-ES). The English versions of MBI and WRQoL instruments were translated into Malay based on forward and backward translation methods. A pilot study was conducted to assess the properties of these translated instruments.

A weighted kappa was used to measure the strength of agreement between the English and Malay instruments, while Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the internal reliability of the translated instruments.

Weighted kappa revealed moderate to almost perfect strength of agreement between the English and Malay versions of instruments. The overall Cronbach’s alpha of at least 0.90 clearly indicated items in the translated instruments measured the same concept or construct.

This study demonstrated the properties of Malay versions of the MBI-HSS, MBI-GS, MBI-ES and WRQoL instruments were culturally appropriate and acceptable to be used in Malaysia.