Test-retest reliability of short form (SF)-12 component scores of patients with stroke

Although the Short Form (SF)-12 has been used previously to characterize the health related quality of life of patients with stroke, its test-retest reliability has not been described for such patients. We, therefore, examined this reliability in 31 patients (mean age=66.5 years) who experienced an ischemic stroke 3-12 months previously. Patients were contacted twice (mean interval=16.2 days) by telephone. Physical component and mental component scores were derived from the 12 SF items. Scores differed less than 1.5 points between tests and were not significantly different. Intraclass correlation coefficients surpassed 0.800. The findings support the test-retest reliability of physical and mental component scores of the SF-12 administered by telephone to post-stroke patients.