title: Measurement equivalence of the SF-36 in the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies that compare health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and other patient-reported outcomes in different populations rest on the assumption that the measure has equivalent psychometric properties across groups. This study examined the measurement equivalence (ME) of the 36-item Medical Outcomes Study Short Form Survey (SF-36), a widely-used measure of HRQOL, by sex and race in a population-based Canadian sample.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SF-36 data were from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study, a prospective cohort study that randomly sampled adult men and women from nine sites across Canada. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) techniques were used to test hypotheses about four forms of ME, which are based on equality of the factor loadings, variances, covariances, and intercepts. Analyses were conducted for Caucasian and non-Caucasian females (n = 6,539) and males (n = 2,884). CFA results revealed that a measurement model with physical and mental health factors provided a good fit to the data. All forms of ME were satisfied for the study groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that sex and race do not influence the conceptualization of a general measure of HRQOL in the Canadian population.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. lisa.lix@usask.ca
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Lix
authors.forename: Beliz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Acan Osman
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Tanveer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Towheed
authors.forename: Wilma
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hopman
authors.forename: K Shawn
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Davison
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Leslie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002170:Canada; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005598:Fractures, Spontaneous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012015:Reference Standards; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome