The RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0

Health Econ. 1993 Oct;2(3):217-27. doi: 10.1002/hec.4730020305.

Abstract

Recently, Ware and Sherbourne published a new short-form health survey, the MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), consisting of 36 items included in long-form measures developed for the Medical Outcomes Study. The SF-36 taps eight health concepts: physical functioning, bodily pain, role limitations due to physical health problems, role limitations due to personal or emotional problems, general mental health, social functioning, energy/fatigue, and general health perceptions. It also includes a single item that provides an indication of perceived change in health. The SF-36 items and scoring rules are distributed by MOS Trust, Inc. Strict adherence to item wording and scoring recommendations is required in order to use the SF-36 trademark. The RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0 (distributed by RAND) includes the same items as those in the SF-36, but the recommended scoring algorithm is somewhat different from that of the SF-36. Scoring differences are discussed here and new T-scores are presented for the 8 multi-item scales and two factor analytically-derived physical and mental health composite scores.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Algorithms*
  • Attitude to Health
  • Copyright
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Depression / diagnosis
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Fatigue / diagnosis
  • Female
  • Health Surveys*
  • Humans
  • Least-Squares Analysis
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Mental Health
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care*
  • Pain / diagnosis
  • Quality of Life*
  • Reference Standards
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Role
  • Sex Factors
  • Social Behavior
  • Surveys and Questionnaires