The Short-Form 36 and older people: some problems encountered when using postal administration

Abstract

Objective-To explore some of the problems encountered in the postal administration of the Short-Form 36 (SF-36). Questions that seem to present particular diYculties for the group are identified. In addition some of the written comments from the questionnaires and people's responses to questions on how diYcult they found the SF-36 are discussed. Design-The study group were asked to complete a health questionnaire containing the SF-36 on three separate occasions (at zero, three, and six months). The first and final questionnaires were interviewer administered during a face to face interview. A shorter questionnaire containing only the SF-36 and another health status measure was sent by post to each patient in the interim. Participants-People aged 65 years or above who were new referrals to community based occupational therapy or physiotherapy services in three areas in north west England. Main results-Response and completion rates for the postal questionnaire were lower than expected, even though all the patients had already had a face to face interview and had therefore completed the SF-36 once. Only 34 of 56 respondents (60.7%) completed all the items on the SF-36. Conclusions-All those planning to use the SF-36 (and similar measures) with older populations should be sensitive to the problems of postal administration. Non-return of questionnaires, high levels of missing data on those that are received, and ambiguities in response may mean that other measures, or perhaps alternative research methods, are more appropriate.

Respondent satisfaction regarding SF-36 and EQ-5D, and patients’ perspectives concerning health outcome assessment within routine health care

“…However, many women aged ‡65 years seemed to find EQ-5D easier. Earlier studies have indicated that the elderly, and especially women, may experience difficulties with (selfadministrated) SF-36 [19][20][21]. In a study on preferences of response formats, older people preferred the VAS to other formats, e.g.…”

Using the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) among Older Adult Inpatients with Varying Cognitive Function

“…Although disability scales based on Activities of Daily Living are the traditional outcome measures in older adults, the use of questionnaires developed in the last decades to measure Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) provides both conceptual and practical advantages, such as a greater ability to discriminate between groups or individuals, and to track changes over time. A number of studies carried out among older adults using generic questionnaires, such as the ShortForm 36 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], the Duke Health Profile [13] or the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) [14], generated some doubts about their suitability. Table 1 summarises these limitations.…”

Utilização de medicamentos por aposentados brasileiros: 2 - Taxa de resposta e preenchimento de questionário postal em Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil

“…Poucos estudos com a população idosa e com análise de omissão de resposta foram identificados na literatura. Dentre esses, destaca-se o estudo de Mallinson 28 , em que 60,7% dos idosos completaram todos os itens de um questionário sobre saúde, Short-Form 36, na Inglaterra. Todavia, vale ressaltar que todos os respondentes ao postal tinham sido previamente entrevistados.…”

“…Algumas explicações são possíveis para tanto, como a disposição desta pergunta ao final do questionário ou incompreensão do enunciado complexo da questão (apesar do estudo piloto). Vários autores apontam que, em questionários auto-administrados, os entrevistados tendem a omitir respostas a perguntas que não são relevantes ou que não se aplicam à situação de momento 1,13,14,23,28 . Assim, é possível que a maioria dos entrevistados não tenha deixado de usar medicamentos no período investigado e justamente por essa razão não responderam à questão.…”