Current health as a general health indicator. II: Evaluation of reliability and validity.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether a Current Health scale produces reliable and valid measures of self perceived health status.


METHODS
Examination of reliability, based on internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient). Examination of validity focusing on convergent and discriminant validity.


METHODS
2263 male and female heads of households who participated in The Danish Health Study 1982-83. The survey used items pertaining to health status from Rand's Health Insurance Study.


RESULTS
The scale has acceptable properties and is preferable to a single item measure of general health status. It can be used in general practice.
Bentzen
N
N
Department of General Practice, Odense University, Denmark.
Christiansen
T
T
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012917:Social Adjustment