title: Reliability and validity of Short Form 36 Version 2 to measure health perceptions in a sub-group of individuals with fatigue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the validity and reliability of Short Form 36 Version 2 (SF36v2) in sub-groups of individuals with fatigue.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty subjects participated in this study, including n = 16 subjects who met case definition criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and n = 14 non-disabled sedentary matched control subjects. SF36v2 and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) were administered before two maximal cardiopulmonary exercise tests (CPETs) administered 24 h apart and an open-ended recovery questionnaire was administered 7 days after CPET challenge. The main outcome measures were self-reported time to recover to pre-challenge functional and symptom status, frequency of post-exertional symptoms and SF36v2 sub-scale scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals with CFS demonstrated significantly lower SF36v2 and MFI-20 sub-scale scores prior to CPET. Between-group differences remained significant post-CPET, however, there were no significant group by test interaction effects. Subjects with CFS reported significantly more total symptoms (p < 0.001), as well as reports of fatigue (p < 0.001), neuroendocrine (p < 0.001), immune (p < 0.01), pain (p < 0.01) and sleep disturbance (p < 0.01) symptoms than control subjects as a result of CPET. Many symptom counts demonstrated significant relationships with SF36v2 sub-scale scores (p < 0.05). SF36v2 and MFI-20 sub-scale scores demonstrated significant correlations (p < 0.05). Various SF36v2 sub-scale scores demonstrated significant predictive validity to identify subjects who recovered from CPET challenge within 1 day and 7 days (p < 0.05). Potential floor effects were observed for both questionnaires for individuals with CFS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Various sub-scales of SF36v2 demonstrated adequate reliability and validity for clinical and research applications. Adequacy of sensitivity to change of SF36v2 as a result of a fatiguing stressor should be the subject of additional study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, USA. tdavenport@pacific.edu
authors.forename: Todd E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Davenport
authors.forename: Staci R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baroni
authors.forename: J Mark
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Van Ness
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Snell
mesh_terms: D005080:Exercise Test; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results