The reliability and validity of the SF-36 health survey for patients with chronic soft tissue pain

Objective To explore the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) for evaluating the health-related quality of life of patients with chronic soft tissue pain, (CSTP). Methods Two hundred and ten CSTP patients were rated with the SF-36 and the Medical Outcomes Study Pain Measurement (MOSPM) instrument and retested 2 weeks later. The internal consistency, test-retest relia-bility and parallel validity of the SF-36 were analyzed. Results The SF-36 showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Most repeated reliability internal correlation coefficients were between 0.44 and O. 66 (P≤0.01) except that of the SF sub-scale of the SF-36, which was O. 336 (P≤0.05). All the internal consistency Cronbach's a coefficients were >0.70. In the assessment of validity, there was significant correlation among all eight sub-scales of the SF-36, and between items 4-11 and total MOSPM scores. The correlation coefficients were between -0.145 and 0. 635 (P≤0.05 or P≤0.01), except between GH of the SF-36 and item 4 of the M OSPM (pain in-fluence on walking) and between MH and item 10 (pain influence days). Conclusion The Chinese version of the SF-36 has good reliability and validity in assessing the health related quality of life of CSTP patients. Key words: Chronic soft tissue pain ;  Short Form-36 Health Survey ;  Reliability ;  Validity ;