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Faced with increasing cost pressure of the social insurance system the carriers of rehabilitation programs focus on the efficacy of their measures. The diagnostic instrument for work motivation (DIAMO) has been developed to assess the influence of job-related motivation on the rehabilitation outcome.The inner structure of the instrument was validated and optimized in a cohort of medical rehabilitation patients (n = 422). Construct validity was further tested by using established instruments.Ten scales related to self-image, intention of action and goodness of fit show good psychometric qualities (Cronbachs alpha: 0.72 - 0.86). The constructs correlate moderately-to-strongly with personality-oriented scales while correlation with disease-related contents is low.The DIAMO is a generic and not disease oriented instrument. It would be expected to facilitate the development of vocational interventions to increase the rehabilitation outcome.

The relevance of work motivation for medical research and healthcare, in particular rehabilitation, is described. Four diagnostic instruments in the German language are introduced which can assess work motivation using a scale system: AVEM, JDS, LMI and FBTM. Their possible application and potential usage for the clinical area are discussed. Apart from the FBTM, none of these instruments can be directly used as a general instrument in a normal medical clinical setting. Finally, a current model for work motivation (compensatory model of work motivation and volition) is presented that contains basis concepts, which are judged as important for future research questions concerning the development of motivation diagnostic instruments.

Within the science of rehabilitation and the medical research field there is a lack of an adequate instrument to assess work motivation. In order to be able to evaluate work-referred motivation structures with their strengths and weaknesses a multi-dimensional viewpoint was conceptualised on the basis of an interview study. Three new concepts were developed to which 12 scales with 202 items were assigned ("motivational self image" with six scales; "motivational intention of action" and "motivational goodness of fit" both with three scales). In a pilot study using a sample of vocational rehabilitants the major part of the concepts was identified using factor analysis. In certain areas modifications were made, so that 10 scales remained forming the basis for the development of a diagnostic instrument.