Pa. Wood et al., HEALTH-STATUS AND FUNCTIONING AMONG THE HOMELESS MENTALLY-ILL - AN ASSESSMENT OF THE MEDICAL OUTCOMES STUDY SF-36 SCALES, Evaluation and program planning, 20(2), 1997, pp. 151-161
While the SF-36 health status instrument has documented reliability an
d validity for nonpsychiatric populations, use of the instrument among
people who are severely mentally ill requires investigation. This pap
er evaluates the performance of six of the eight SF-36 subscales in a
large sample of homeless mentally ill individuals, examining: (a) the
internal consistency of each subscale, (b) the internal structure of t
he SF-36 as a measurement instrument, (c) the average levels of functi
oning and well-being reported compared to a general population sample,
(d) the sensitivity of the scales to clinical differences, and (e) th
e relationship between change on the SF-36 and change on other related
measures. Data confirm high levels of internal reliability, a two-fac
tor structure similar to that reported for the general population, and
the ability of the short-form scales to discriminate between groups v
arying in level of clinical disturbance. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd
.