Reliability and validity of the SF-36 among older Mexican Americans.
OBJECTIVE
The Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) has been validated in many diverse samples. This measure of health-related quality of life, however, has not yet been examined among older Mexican Americans, a rapidly growing subset of the older population.


METHODS
We address the validity of the SF-36 in a sample of older Mexican Americans (N = 621) selected from the Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly. Using confirmatory factor analysis through structural equation modeling, we evaluate the construct validity of this scale.


RESULTS
The results indicate evidence for a model with eight first-order factors consistent with previous research on the SF-36 and two second-order factors representing mental and physical health.


CONCLUSIONS
This, in addition to other evidence given here, leads us to the conclusion that the SF-36 is a valid measure of health-related quality of life in this sample of older Mexican Americans.
Peek
M Kristen
MK
Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77555-1153, USA. mkpeek@utmb.edu
Ray
Laura
L
Patel
Kushang
K
Stoebner-May
Diane
D
Ottenbacher
Kenneth J
KJ
D000368:Aged; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015206:Southwestern United States; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires