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SF 36 health survey questionnaire: I. Reliability in two patient based studies
D A Ruta1, M I Abdalla, A M Garratt
1Department of Public Health, University of Aberdeen.
Quality in Health Care : QHC
|November 4, 1994
Summary
The SF 36 health survey questionnaire demonstrates high reliability for monitoring groups of patients. At least four scales are reliable enough for individual patient management, supporting its use in clinical practice.
Area of Science:
- Health outcomes research
- Psychometrics
- Clinical epidemiology
Background:
- The SF 36 Health Survey is a widely used patient-reported outcome measure.
- Assessing the reliability of health surveys is crucial for valid interpretation of results.
- Previous reliability data for the SF 36 in diverse patient populations is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the SF 36 Health Survey questionnaire.
- To determine the reliability of the SF 36 in two distinct patient cohorts.
Main Methods:
- A postal questionnaire survey with follow-up reminders was employed.
- Test-retest reliability was assessed at one and two-week intervals.
- Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha, and test-retest reliability using Pearson correlation coefficients.
Main Results:
- Response rates were 75.4% in study 1 and 95.8% in study 2.
- Both internal consistency and test-retest reliability analyses yielded similar results across most SF 36 scales.
- The SF 36 scales demonstrated sufficient reliability to detect statistically significant differences in controlled trials.
Conclusions:
- The SF 36 questionnaire exhibits high reliability for group health monitoring.
- Several SF 36 scales demonstrate adequate reliability for individual patient management.
- Further research is needed to assess the feasibility of integrating the SF 36 into routine clinical practice.