36-Item Short Form Survey flow

Introduction

The SF-36 was a product of the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS), a four-year study that examined specific influences on outcomes of care [1]. From the original 149-item Functional and Well Being Profile used in the MOS, Ware and Sherbourne, working with the RAND Corporation, published the SF-36 in 1992, selecting eight health domains from the forty identified in the MOS [2]. The original SF-36 underwent many changes and separate derivatives were created. In 1993, Hays, Sherbourne, and Mazel released a publicly available version of the SF-36, the RAND-36 [3].

The 36-Item Short Form Survey flow contains the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF36) questionnaire and associated calculation. After form submission, the 36-Item Short Form Survey calculation is executed automatically. It's easy to extend this flow with conditional logic based on the interpretation of the 36-Item Short Form Survey calculation.

36-Item Short Form Survey (SF36) questionnaire

Questions and Scoring

The SF-36 consists of 36 items split over 8 different dimensions: physical functioning (PF), role physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), role emotional (RE), and mental health (MH). The items and their scores can be found here.

Interpretation

Generally, a high score defines a more favorable health state.

References

[1] Tarlov AR, Ware JE Jr, Greenfield S, Nelson EC, Perrin E, Zubkoff M. The Medical Outcomes Study. An application of methods for monitoring the results of medical care. JAMA. 1989;262(7):925-930. doi:10.1001/jama.262.7.925\
[2] Ware JE Jr, Sherbourne CD. The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Med Care. 1992;30(6):473-483.\
[3] Hays RD, Sherbourne CD, Mazel RM. The RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0. Health Econ. 1993;2(3):217-227. doi:10.1002/hec.4730020305