Development and testing of the UK SF-12 (short form health survey).
OBJECTIVE
The 36 item short form health survey (SF-36) has proved to be of use in a variety of settings where a short generic health measure of patient-assessed outcome is required. This measure can provide an eight dimension profile of health status, and two summary scores assessing physical function and mental well-being. The developers of the SF-36 in America have developed algorithms to yield the two summary component scores in a questionnaire containing only one-third of the original 36 items, the SF-12. This paper documents the construction of the UK SF-12 summary measures from a large-scale dataset from the UK in which the SF-36, together with other questions on health and lifestyles, was sent to randomly selected members of the population. Using these data we attempt here to replicate the findings of the SF-36 developers in the UK setting, and then to assess the use of SF-12 summary scores in a variety of clinical conditions.


METHODS
Factor analytical methods were used to derive the weights used to construct the physical and mental component scales from the SF-36. Regression methods were used to weight the 12 items recommended by the developers to construct the SF-12 physical and mental component scores. This analysis was undertaken on a large community sample (n = 9332), and then the results of the SF-36 and SF-12 were compared across diverse patient groups (Parkinson's disease, congestive heart failure, sleep apnoea, benign prostatic hypertrophy).


RESULTS
Factor analysis of the SF-36 produced a two factor solution. The factor loadings were used to weight the physical component summary score (PCS-36) and mental component summary score (MCS-36). Results gained from the use of these measures were compared with results gained from the PCS-12 and MCS-12, and were found to be highly correlated (PCS: rho = 0.94, p < 0.001; MCS: rho = 0.96, p < 0.001), and produce remarkably similar results, both in the community sample and across a variety of patient groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The SF-12 is able to produce the two summary scales originally developed from the SF-36 with considerable accuracy and yet with far less respondent burden. Consequently, the SF-12 may be an instrument of choice where a short generic measure providing summary information on physical and mental health status is required.
Jenkinson
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C
Health Services Research Unit, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Infirmary, UK.
Layte
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R
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom