The Short Form-36 is preferable to the SIP as a generic health status measure in patients undergoing elective total hip arthroplasty.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the comparative usefulness of the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the Sickness Impact Profile, (SIP) as generic health status measures in total hip arthroplasty.


METHODS
Analysis of preoperative and 3-month data of 54 consecutive patients undergoing total hip replacement for osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Instruments were mailed to patients preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively.


RESULTS
In 10 of the 12 SIP subscales, but just 1 of the 8 SF-36 subscales, more than 40% of the patients had scores of zero. On a 100-point scale, the median global SIP was 12 (range 0-40) whereas the median global SF-36 was 50 (range 10-85). This indicates that many items of the SIP were not germane to patients undergoing joint arthroplasty. The global and, particularly, the physical dimensions of the SF-36 were more responsive than their SIP counterparts, as measured both by the standardized response mean (1.26 and 0.88, respectively) and the correlation with self-perceived improvement in quality of life (r = 0.37 and 0.26, respectively). The SF-36, but not the SIP, discriminated between patients with relatively good physical performance at 3 months with respect to their ability to work, to play sports, or to garden.


CONCLUSIONS
The SF-36 is briefer, more relevant, and more responsive than the SIP and is preferable as a generic health status measure in patients undergoing elective hip arthroplasty. The SF-36 should be tested in other populations as well as other conditions to determine whether it is a superior generic health status instrument for evaluative research in orthopedic surgery.
Stucki
G
G
Liang
M H
MH
Phillips
C
C
Katz
J N
JN
D000368:Aged; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires