Measurement equivalence of the SF-36 in the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study
Date
2012-03-13
Authors
Lix, Lisa M
Acan Osman, Beliz
Adachi, Jonathan D
Towheed, Tanveer
Hopman, Wilma
Davison, K Shawn
Leslie, William D
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Abstract
Abstract
Background
Studies that compare health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and other patient-reported outcomes in different populations rest on the assumption that the measure has equivalent psychometric properties across groups. This study examined the measurement equivalence (ME) of the 36-item Medical Outcomes Study Short Form Survey (SF-36), a widely-used measure of HRQOL, by sex and race in a population-based Canadian sample.
Findings
SF-36 data were from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study, a prospective cohort study that randomly sampled adult men and women from nine sites across Canada. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) techniques were used to test hypotheses about four forms of ME, which are based on equality of the factor loadings, variances, covariances, and intercepts. Analyses were conducted for Caucasian and non-Caucasian females (n = 6,539) and males (n = 2,884). CFA results revealed that a measurement model with physical and mental health factors provided a good fit to the data. All forms of ME were satisfied for the study groups.
Conclusions
The results suggest that sex and race do not influence the conceptualization of a general measure of HRQOL in the Canadian population.
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Citation
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. 2012 Mar 13;10(1):29