title: Health status of heart transplant recipients versus patients awaiting heart transplantation: a preliminary evaluation of the SF-36 questionnaire.
abstract: Measures of the effects of health care on patients' lives are being requested to evaluate heart transplantation programs. A relatively short, 36-item, questionnaire (SF-36) designed to measure health status is being evaluated as an outcome measure for a variety of conditions. The SF-36 was sent to all adults awaiting heart transplantation (n = 48) and heart transplant recipients (n = 177) at the University of Minnesota as a pilot study of the SF-36 applied to heart transplantation. Response rates were 88% and 81%, respectively. Heart transplant recipients had significantly (p < 0.0001) better scores for general health perceptions (70 +/- 21 versus 33 +/- 21), vitality (62 +/- 19 versus 39 +/- 2), physical function (71 +/- 22 versus 36 +/- 24), ability to perform roles without physical limitations (62 +/- 41 versus 27 +/- 35), and social function (85 +/- 18 versus 63 +/- 31) compared with patients awaiting heart transplantation. Mental function and ability to perform roles without emotional problems were good in both groups and not significantly different. Mean SF-36 scores for the heart transplant recipients were uniformly not as high as scores for a historical group with only minor medical problems. These preliminary data suggest that the SF-36 is sensitive to the effects of heart transplantation. Additional studies of the SF-36 as an outcome measure for heart transplantation are warranted and should include methods to control for extraneous variability and to provide unbiased data collection.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Division, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Rector
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ormaza
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kubo
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014850:Waiting Lists