SF-36

The Short Form (36) Health Survey is a patient-reported survey of patient health. The SF-36 is a measure of health status and an abbreviated variant of it, the SF-6D, is commonly used in health economics as a variable in the quality-adjusted life year calculation to determine the cost-effectiveness of a health treatment. The original SF-36 came out from the Medical Outcome Study, MOS, done by the RAND Corporation. Since then a group of researchers from the original study released a commercial version of SF-36 while the original SF-36 is available in public domain license free from RAND.

Difference between the SF-36 and the RAND-36

The SF-36 and RAND-36 include the same set of items that were developed in the Medical Outcomes Study. Scoring of the general health and pain scales is different between the versions. The differences in scoring are summarized by Hays, Sherbourne, and Mazel (Health Economics, 2: 217-227, 1993)

Scoring
[1]

The SF-36 consists of eight scaled scores, which are the weighted sums of the questions in their section.

Each scale is directly transformed into a 0-100 scale on the assumption that each question carries equal weight. The lower the score the more disability. The higher the score the less disability i.e. a score of zero is equivalent to maximum disability and a score of 100 is equivalent to no disability. The eight sections are:

vitality physical functioning bodily pain general health perceptions physical role functioning emotional role functioning social role functioning mental health

Uses

Evaluating individual patients health status Researching the cost-effectiveness of a treatment Monitoring and comparing disease burden

Notes

1. ^ SF 36 http://www.rand.org/health/surveys_tools/mos/mos_core_36item.html

As part of the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS), a multi-year, multi-site study to explain variations in patient outcomes, RAND developed the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). SF-36 is a set of generic, coherent, and easily administered quality-of-life measures. These measures rely upon patient self-reporting and are now widely utilized by managed care organizations and by Medicare for routine monitoring and assessment of care outcomes in adult patients.

http://www.rand.org/health/surveys_tools/mos/mos_core_36item.html