title: Validity of a Revised Short Form-12 Health Survey Version 2 in Different Ethnic Populations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Short Form-12 version 2 (SF-12v2) is a shorter version of the Short Form-36 version 2 (SF-36v2) for assessing health-related quality of life. As the SF-12v2 could not be resolved into the physical- and mental-component summary score (PCS and MCS, respectively) in the general population of Singapore, this study aims to determine and validate the Singapore SF-12 version 2 (SG-12v2).
  
  
  METHODS
  The SG- 12v2 was generated using the same methodology as the SF-12v2. Bootstrap analysis was used to determine if the SG-12v2 were significantly different from the SF-12v2. Content validity was assessed using percentage of variance (R²) of the Singapore version of SF-36v2 PCS and MCS explained by the SG-12v2 items. Agreement between the SF-36v2 and the SG-12v2 was assessed using Bland-Altman diagrams. Criterion validity was demonstrated if effect size differences between SF-36v2 and SG-12v2 were small (Cohen's criteria). Known-group validity of SG-12v2 was reported for participants with and without chronic diseases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five items differed between the SG-12v2 and SF-12v2. Bootstrap analysis confirmed that SG-12v2 and SF-12v2 were significantly different. The SG12v2 explained 94% and 79% of the R² of the SF-36v2 PCS and MCS, respectively. Agreement was good and effect size differences were small (<0.3). Participants with chronic diseases reported lower SG-12v2 scores compared to participants without chronic diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SG-12v2 offers advantage over the SF-12v2 for use in the general population of Singapore. The SG-12v2 is a valid measure and will be particularly useful for large population health surveys in Singapore.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Maudrene Ls
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Hwee Lin
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Wee
authors.forename: Agus
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salim
authors.forename: Jeannette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Derrick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heng
authors.forename: E Shyong
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thumboo
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005006:Ethnicity; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012846:Singapore