Psychometric evaluation of a Chinese (Taiwanese) version of the SF-36 health survey amongst middle-aged women from a rural community

To test the psychometric properties of the Chinese (Taiwanese) version of t he short form 36 health survey (SF-36), 1439 women, aged 40-54 years and li ving in Kinmen (a Taiwanese island reflecting a predominantly rural communi ty) were recruited to participate in this survey. The rate of unavailable d ata points for the 36 tested items remained consistently low, and item-disc riminate validity was high (95%) for all subscales. Cronbach's alpha coeffi cient remained above the 0.70 threshold criterion for all scales except for social functioning and bodily pain. Principal components analysis supporte d the two major dimensions of health, physical and mental, in the internal structure of the SF-36 scales, although the dimensions did not match the hy pothesized association very well. Poorer health profiles were associated wi th physical and mental conditions. The mental health subscores in the SF-36 test correlated highly with the associated hospital anxiety and depression score (Spearman rank correlation coefficient = -0.62). In conclusion, the reliability and validity tests performed on the data collected support the cross-cultural application of the Chinese (Taiwanese) version of the SF-36 test.