Replicability of SF-36 summary scores by the SF-12 in stroke patients.
OBJECTIVE
The replicability of the physical and mental component summary scores of the Short Form (SF)-36 has been established using the SF-12 in selected patient populations but has yet to be assessed in stroke patients. If the summary scores of the SF-12 are highly correlated with those of the SF-36, the benefits of using a shorter health-status measure may be realized without substantial loss of information or precision. Both self-reported and proxy assessments were evaluated for replicability.


METHODS
Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and linear regression were used to assess the ability of the SF-12 physical component summary (PCS-12) scores to predict PCS-36 scores and the SF-12 mental component summary (MCS-12) scores to predict MCS-36 scores. Multivariate regression was used to explore the relationship between SF-12 and SF-36 scores.


RESULTS
The MCS-12 and PCS-12 scores were strongly correlated with the corresponding SF-36 summary scores for surveys completed by proxy or self-report (ICCs ranged from 0.954 to 0.973). Regression analysis of the proxy assessments indicated that patient age was an important effect modifier in the relationship between MCS-12 and MCS-36 scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The SF-12 reproduced SF-36 summary scores without substantial loss of information in stroke patients. Accordingly, the SF-12 can be used at the summary score level as a substitute for the SF-36 in stroke survivors capable of self-report. However, the mental health summary scores of proxy assessments are influenced by patient age, thereby limiting the replicability of the SF-36 by the SF-12 under these conditions.
Pickard
A S
AS
Faculties of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. spickard@pharmacy.ualberta.ca
Johnson
J A
JA
Penn
A
A
Lau
F
F
Noseworthy
T
T
D000368:Aged; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment