title: Evidence for the validity of the Short-form 36 Questionnaire (SF-36) in an elderly population.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine whether the Short-form 36 Health Status Questionnaire (SF-36) is suitable for use in an elderly population. The SF-36 was administered by interview to a random sample of 827 adults from West Glamorgan. Among the 216 adults aged 65 and over the data were 98.8% complete. Evidence for a high degree of internal consistency was good with Cronbach's alpha statistic exceeding 0.8 for each parameter. The evidence for construct validity was also good with the SF-36 distinguishing between those with and without markers of poorer health. The SF-36 is suitable for use with an elderly population when used in an interview setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Medicine, West Glamorgan Health Authority, Swansea.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Littlepage
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology