A cohort study found the RAND-12 and Health Utilities Index Mark 3 demonstrated construct validity in high-risk primary care patients.
OBJECTIVE
The Short Form 12 (SF-12) is widely used in primary care settings. The RAND-12 Health Status Inventory (HSI) and the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) have not been as widely used in such settings. The objective of this study was to examine the construct validity of the RAND-12 and HUI3 in the context of high-risk primary care patients.


METHODS
The SF-12, HUI2, and HUI3 were administered to a cohort of high-risk primary care patients. RAND-12 summary scores for physical and mental health were generated. Single-attribute utility scores for each dimension of health status and overall health in HUI3 were computed. A priori hypotheses were specified.


RESULTS
In general, the relationships among RAND-12 and HUI3 scores were consistent with construct validity. Twelve of 24 a priori predictions were confirmed. However, predictions about the correlations between the number of medical conditions and the number of medications and the measures of health-related quality of life were, in general, not confirmed.


CONCLUSIONS
The RAND-12 and HUI3 seem to be useful among primary care patients with diverse chronic conditions. Further investigation is warranted.
Feeny
David
D
Institute of Health Economics, #1200, 10405 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 3N4, Canada. david.feeny@kpchr.orh
Farris
Karen
K
Côté
Isabelle
I
Johnson
Jeffrey A
JA
Tsuyuki
Ross T
RT
Eng
Ken
K
D015331:Cohort Studies; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires