Measuring health status in psychiatric community surveys: internal and external validity of the Spanish version of the SF‐36

Abstract

The aims of the present study were to determine the acceptability of the Spanish version of the Short Form (SF-36) health survey questionnaire for its use in mental health research on the general population, and to evaluate its internal and external validity, using data obtained from a representative community sample of 1250 adults of working age. The internal consistency of the different dimensions of the questionnaire was high. Concurrent validity was tested by examining its correlation with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Construct validity was determined by studying the extent to which scores on different variables reflected the expected distribution of health status for and between certain groups. Our findings provide strong evidence for the acceptability and validity of the SF-36 when used as part of a community mental health survey.

El Cuestionario de Salud SF-36 español: una década de experiencia y nuevos desarrollos

“…De los 79 artículos restantes, mediante evaluación del título y el sumario, se identificaron 11 que evaluaban alguna de las características métricas del cuestionario 4,12,13,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] . Dado que no se detectó ningún estudio longitudinal específicamente diseñado para evaluar las características métricas, se incluyeron también los 6 estudios longitudinales detectados 33-38 que valoraban la capacidad predictiva de mortalidad del SF-36, y/o tratamientos de eficacia demostrada para estimar la sensibilidad al cambio.…”

“…En 3 de los estudios evaluados 27,29,31 se llevaron a cabo análisis factoriales descriptivos de los ítems del cuestionario. Al menos 5 de las 8 escalas propuestas por los autores del cuestionario original mostraron una correspondencia muy precisa entre los factores y las escalas en cada uno de los estudios, aunque estas 5 escalas no fueron siempre las mismas en todos los análisis.…”

Transculturally adapted Spanish SRI questionnaire for home mechanically ventilated patients was viable, valid, and reliable

“…These differences in item distribution are common after transcultural adaptation of HRQL questionnaires, or after administering the same questionnaire to different populations. For instance, Garratt et al [16] and Ayuso-Mateos et al [17] found five rather than eight scales in the SF-36 questionnaire. Similarly, Failde and Ramos [18] found the same eight scales, but with a different item distribution between scales.…”

Impact of severity and type of depression on quality of life in cases identified in the community

“…When these analyses were carried out introducing all the confounders into the model, the main effect of severity remained significant (p < .001) for the eight SF-36 subscales, and the same pattern of specific differences between groups in post-hoc comparisons was found. 1 Specific results of each paired comparison available upon requests to the corresponding author.…”