title: An evaluation of a brief health status measure in elderly veterans.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the feasibility of a brief 36-item health status measure in elderly male veterans, by comparing it with the 136-item Sickness Impact Profile.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study in which all subjects completed both measures in a random order.
  
  
  METHODS
  Durham VAMC General Medicine and Geriatrics Clinics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Convenience sample of 25 male veterans aged 65 and older (mean age = 73.5 years; 68% white; 68% currently married; mean annual income = $7,000).
  
  
  METHODS
  Two well-validated health status measures, the Sickness Impact Profile and the SF-36.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SF-36 took less time to administer than the Sickness Impact Profile in both the Geriatrics Clinic (mean: 15 vs 33 minutes) and General Medicine Clinic (mean: 14 vs 21 minutes). Although SIP scores consistently displayed a more optimistic picture of respondents' health compared with the SF-36, the two instruments were highly correlated: overall functioning (r = 0.73), physical functioning (r = 0.78), and social functioning (r = 0.67).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These two measures provide a similar ranking of elderly male veterans' health status. The significantly shorter administration time of the SF-36 is an attractive feature for both researchers and clinicians interested in assessing health status.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, NC 27705.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weinberger
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Samsa
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Hanlon
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmader
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cowper
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Uttech
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Feussner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009657:North Carolina; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011897:Random Allocation; D012919:Social Behavior; D014728:Veterans