SF-36 Health Survey

Abstract

The SF-36 health survey is a multipurpose, short-form health survey with only 36 questions. It yields an 8-scale profile of scores, as well as summary measures. It is a generic measure of health status as opposed to one that targets a specific age, disease, or treatment group. This chapter summarizes the steps in the construction of the SF-36; how it led to the development of an even shorter (1-page, 2-minute) survey form, the SF-12; the improvements reflected in Version 2.0 of the SF-36; psychometric studies of assumptions underlying scale construction and scoring; how they have been translated in more than 40 countries as part of the International Quality of Life Assessment (IQOLA) Project; and studies of reliability and validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)