Health status measurement performance and health status differences by age, ethnicity, and gender: Assessment in the medical outcomes study

The comparative measurement performance of self-reported health status inst ruments for African American and Hispanic elderly has rarely been studied, despite evidence of their poor health status. This study examined psychomet ric performance and health status differences by age, ethnicity, and gender among 10,569 ethnically diverse patients who completed the Short-Form Gene ral Health Survey in the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS). Hispanics and Africa n Americans tended to have slightly lower measurement performance than othe r ethnic groups. Compared with whites, health status scores for African Ame rican and Hispanic women were slightly but significantly lower The small di fferences in health status by ethnicity may be due to the MOS sampling stra tegy, which excluded low-socioeconomic status minorities with poor educatio n and Mo regular medical care. The psychometric performance of MOS health s tatus measures should be examined in studies of ethnically diverse, communi ty-dwelling, elderly populations who have poor access to care, poor educati on, and/or low socioeconomic status.