A multi-purpose, short-form health survey assessing physical and mental health-related quality of life.
36 Questions
~9 min
Custom
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The SF-36v2 Health Survey was developed by John E. Ware, Jr., Maurine Kosinski, and Janis E. Dewey (2000). It is designed to measure Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). The scale is intended for use with General adult population and clinical groups.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 36 items organized into 9 factors/subscales: Physical Functioning, Role-Physical, Role-Emotional, Bodily Pain, General Health, Vitality, Social Functioning, Mental Health, Health Transition.
Factor / Subscale
Items
N
Physical Functioning
3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12
10
Role-Physical
13,14,15,16
4
Role-Emotional
17,18,19
3
Bodily Pain
21,22
2
General Health
1,33,34,35,36
5
Vitality
23,27,29,31
4
Social Functioning
20,32
2
Mental Health
24,25,26,28,30
5
Health Transition
2
1
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = All of the time / Excellent / Definitely true, 2 = Most of the time / Very good / Mostly true, 3 = Some of the time / Good / Don't know, 4 = A little of the time / Fair / Mostly false, 5 = None of the time / Poor / Definitely false.
The scale includes 7 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 0 to 100. Interpretation guidelines:
Scores range from 0 to 100 for each subscale, where higher scores indicate better health status.: 0 – 100
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Alpha coefficients typically exceed 0.80 across all subscales.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.