title: Assessing health status and quality of life of Q-fever patients: the Nijmegen Clinical Screening Instrument versus the Short Form 36.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the study was to assess the use of the Nijmegen Clinical Screening Instrument (NCSI) and Short Form 36 (SF-36) in providing a detailed assessment of health status of Q-fever patients and to evaluate which subdomains within the NCSI and SF-36 measure unique aspects of health status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients received a study questionnaire, which contained the NCSI and SF-36. Pearson correlation coefficients between subdomains of the instruments were calculated. The response rate was 94% (309 out of 330 eligible patients). Intercorrelations between subdomains of the NCSI were generally lower than of the SF-36. Four subdomains of the NCSI showed conceptual similarity (Pearson's r ≥ .70) with one or more subdomains of the SF-36 and vice versa. Subdomains that showed no conceptual similarity were NCSI Subjective Pulmonary Symptoms, Subjective Impairment, Dyspnoea Emotions and Satisfaction Relations, and SF-36 Social functioning, Bodily Pain, Role Physical and Role Emotional.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show that either the NCSI or SF-36 can be used to measure health status in Q-fever patients. When the aim is to obtain a detailed overview of the patients' health, a combination of the two instruments, consisting of the complete NCSI and the four unique subdomains of the SF-36, is preferred.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary and Community Care, Academic Collaborative Centre AMPHI, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, P,O, Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. j.vanloenhout@elg.umcn.nl
authors.forename: Joris A F
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: van Loenhout
authors.forename: W John
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Paget
authors.forename: Gerwin W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Sandker
authors.forename: Jeannine L A
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hautvast
authors.forename: Koos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: van der Velden
authors.forename: Jan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Vercoulen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011778:Q Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires