Papers

Is the SF-36 a valid measure of change in population health? Results from the Whitehall II study

^a International Centre for Health and Society, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London Medical School, London WC1E 6BT, ^b Department of Public Health, Kensington&Chelsea and Westminster Health Authority, London W2 6LX

Correspondence to: Dr H Hemingway International Centre for Health and Society, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London Medical School, London WC1E 6BT h.hemingway@public-health.ucl.ac.uk

Objective: To measure within-person change in scores on the short form general health survey (SF-36) by age, sex, employment grade, and disease status.
Design: Longitudinal study with a mean of 36 months (range 23-59 months) follow up, with screening examination and questionnaire to detect physical and psychiatric morbidity.
Setting: 20 civil service departments originally located in London.
Participants: 5070 male and 2197 female office based civil servants aged 39-63 years.
Main outcome measures: Change in the eight scales of the SF-36 (adjusted for baseline score and length of follow up) and effect sizes (adjusted change/standard deviation of differences).
Results: Within-person declines (worsening health) with age were greater than estimated by cross sectional data alone. General mental health showed greater declines among younger participants (P for linear trend <0.001). Employment grade was inversely related to change; lower grades had greater deteriorations than higher grades (P<0.001 for each scale in men; P<0.05 for each scale in women except general health perceptions and role limitations due to physical problems). The greatest declines were seen among participants with disease at baseline, with the effects of physical and psychiatric morbidity being additive. Effect sizes ranged from 0.20 to 0.65 in participants with both physical and psychiatric morbidity.
Conclusions: Health functioning, as measured by the SF-36, changed in hypothesised directions with age, employment grade, and disease status. These changes occurred within a short follow up period, in an occupational, high functioning cohort which has not been the subject of intervention, suggesting that the SF-36 is sensitive to changes in health in general populations.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Social inequalities in self reported health in early old age: follow-up of prospective cohort study

Tarani Chandola, Jane Ferrie, Amanda Sacker, and Michael Marmot
BMJ 2007 334: 990. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Sacker, A., Head, J., Bartley, M. (2008). Impact of Coronary Heart Disease on Health Functioning in an Aging Population: Are There Differences According to Socioeconomic Position?. Psychosom. Med. 70: 133-140 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Chandola, T., Ferrie, J., Sacker, A., Marmot, M. (2007). Social inequalities in self reported health in early old age: follow-up of prospective cohort study. BMJ 334: 990-990 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Harkonmaki, K., Lahelma, E., Martikainen, P., Rahkonen, O., Silventoinen, K. (2006). Mental health functioning (SF-36) and intentions to retire early among ageing municipal employees: The Helsinki Health Study. Scand J Public Health 34: 190-198 [Abstract]  
• Chen, H., Cohen, P., Kasen, S., Johnson, J. G., Berenson, K., Gordon, K. (2006). Impact of Adolescent Mental Disorders and Physical Illnesses on Quality of Life 17 Years Later. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 160: 93-99 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Koster, A., Penninx, B. W. J. H., Bosma, H., Kempen, G. I. J. M., Harris, T. B., Newman, A. B., Rooks, R. N., Rubin, S. M., Simonsick, E. M., van Eijk, J. T. M., Kritchevsky, S. B. (2005). Is There a Biomedical Explanation for Socioeconomic Differences in Incident Mobility Limitation?. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 60: 1022-1027 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Raat, H., Botterweck, A. M, Landgraf, J. M, Hoogeveen, W C., Essink-Bot, M.-L. (2005). Reliability and validity of the short form of the child health questionnaire for parents (CHQ-PF28) in large random school based and general population samples. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 59: 75-82 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• White, P., Lewith, G., Prescott, P., Conway, J. (2004). Acupuncture versus Placebo for the Treatment of Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. ANN INTERN MED 141: 911-919 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Koster, A., Bosma, H., Kempen, G. I J M, van Lenthe, F. J, van Eijk, J. T. M, Mackenbach, J. P (2004). Socioeconomic inequalities in mobility decline in chronic disease groups (asthma/COPD, heart disease, diabetes mellitus, low back pain): only a minor role for disease severity and comorbidity. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 58: 862-869 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Stafford, M., Martikainen, P., Lahelma, E., Marmot, M. (2004). Neighbourhoods and self rated health: a comparison of public sector employees in London and Helsinki. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 58: 772-778 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Pinnington, M. A, Miller, J., Stanley, I. (2004). An evaluation of prompt access to physiotherapy in the management of low back pain in primary care. Fam Pract 21: 372-380 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Ferrer, R L, Palmer, R (2004). Variations in health status within and between socioeconomic strata. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 58: 381-387 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• McCarthy, C. J., Oldham, J. A. (2004). The reliability, validity and responsiveness of an aggregated locomotor function (ALF) score in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Rheumatology (Oxford) 43: 514-517 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Mein, G, Martikainen, P, Hemingway, H, Stansfeld, S, Marmot, M (2003). Is retirement good or bad for mental and physical health functioning? Whitehall II longitudinal study of civil servants. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 57: 46-49 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Creed, F., Morgan, R., Fiddler, M., Marshall, S., Guthrie, E., House, A. (2002). Depression and Anxiety Impair Health-Related Quality of Life and Are Associated With Increased Costs in General Medical Inpatients. Psychosomatics 43: 302-309 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Boueri, F. M. V., Bucher-Bartelson, B. L., Glenn, K. A., Make, B. J. (2001). Quality of Life Measured With a Generic Instrument (Short Form-36) Improves Following Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients With COPD. Chest 119: 77-84 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Hopman, W. M., Towheed, T., Anastassiades, T., Tenenhouse, A., Poliquin, S., Berger, C., Joseph, L., Brown, J. P., Murray, T. M., Adachi, J. D., Hanley, D. A., Papadimitropoulos, E., The Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study Resear, (2000). Canadian normative data for the SF-36 health survey. CMAJ 163: 265-271 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Wood-Dauphinee, S. (2000). The Canadian SF-36 health survey: Normative data add to its value. CMAJ 163: 283-284 [Full text]  
• Vahtera, J., Kivimäki, M., Pentti, J., Theorell, T. (2000). Effect of change in the psychosocial work environment on sickness absence: a seven year follow up of initially healthy employees. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 54: 484-493 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Fiscella, K., Franks, P., Gold, M. R., Clancy, C. M. (2000). Inequality in Quality: Addressing Socioeconomic, Racial, and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. JAMA 283: 2579-2584 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Fiscella, K., Franks, P. (1999). Influence of Patient Education on Profiles of Physician Practices. ANN INTERN MED 131: 745-751 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Miller, J. S, Pinnington, M. A, Stanley, I. M (1999). The early stages of low back pain: a pilot study of patient diaries as a source of data. Fam Pract 16: 395-401 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Muldoon, M. F, Barger, S. D, Flory, J. D, Manuck, S. B (1998). What are quality of life measurements measuring?. BMJ 316: 542-545 [Abstract] [Full text]