title: [Quality of life in patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis: using the SF-8 health status questionnaire (Japanese version)].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The number of patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCP) is increasing, and now, has extended up to about 15% of the Japanese. It is reported that the QOL is an important outcome in the JCP treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the QOL in patients with JCP by means of the SF-8 Health Survey (Japanese Version), a new, even shorter generic health survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  411 patients with JCP who visited 10 ENT clinics in Osaka from March 14 to March 26 (peak pollen season) were questioned, and 204 patients without any treatments in this season were engaged in this study as subjects. In this study, the QOL scores were evaluated using the SF-8. This is an 8-item version of the SF-36 that yields a comparable 8-dimension health profile and comparable estimates of summary scores for the physical and mental components of health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The QOL score depressed in the patients with JCP compared with healthy subjects (Japanese national norms). Both Mental Component Score (MCS) and Physical Component Score (PCS) scores decreased more in females than in males. In females, MCS were significantly lower than national norms. The older the patients were, the lower PCS scores were showed. The severity of nasal symptoms influenced the PCS scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results showed the tendency similar to the early studies using SF-36 questionnaire. The sensitivity of SF-8 in the individual is not better than that of other specific QOL questionnaires, but SF-8 can be answered in a short time compared with other questionnaires including SF-36. We suggested that SF-8 become a useful questionnaire in the future.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Allied Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Osaka University.
authors.forename: Tsukasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ogino
authors.forename: Hiroe
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arimoto
authors.forename: Morihiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Irifune
authors.forename: Nobuko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ookawachi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kikumori
authors.forename: Ritsu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamaki
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Michihiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nose
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology*; D032485:Cryptomeria; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011058:Pollen / Q000276:immunology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000523:psychology; D012621:Seasons; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens