title: Reliability and validity of the SF-12 health survey among people with severe mental illness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this work was to assess the reliability and validity of the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 12-Item Health Survey (SF-12) in a large sample of people with severe mental illness (SMI).
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined the internal factor structure of the SF-12, compared component scores for this sample with normative levels, examined test-retest reliability, and examined convergent and divergent validity by comparing SF-12 scores to other indexes of physical and mental health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SF-12 distinguished this sample of people with SMI from the general population, was stable over a 1-week interval, consisted of 2 fairly distinct factors, and was related to physical and mental health indexes in expected ways.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SF-12 appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring health-related quality of life for people with SMI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, USA. psalyer@iupui.edu
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Salyers
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Bosworth
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lamb-Pagone
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Osher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003237:Connecticut; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009513:New Hampshire; D009657:North Carolina; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index