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. 2022 Jul 2;20(1):102.
doi: 10.1186/s12955-022-02010-z.

Average and individual differences between the 12-item MOS Short-form Health Survey version 2 (SF-12 V.2) and the veterans RAND 12-item Health Survey (VR-12) in the Chinese population

Daniel Y T Fong  1 , Bobo K Y Chan  2 , Sha Li  2   3 , C H Wan  4 , Lewis E Kazis  5   6
Affiliations

Average and individual differences between the 12-item MOS Short-form Health Survey version 2 (SF-12 V.2) and the veterans RAND 12-item Health Survey (VR-12) in the Chinese population

Daniel Y T Fong et al. Health Qual Life Outcomes. .

Abstract

Background: The 12-item MOS Short-form Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) and the Veterans RAND 12-item Health Survey (VR-12) are generic health-related quality of life measures. They are fairly similar, but their differences in scores have not been assessed. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the differences between the SF-12v2 and the VR-12 in a Chinese population.

Methods: We conducted a household survey of 500 Chinese adults in Hong Kong. Both the SF-12v2 and the VR-12 were self-administered. The physical component summary score (PCS) and the mental component summary score (MCS) of each instrument were computed using well established algorithms. Their mean differences were assessed using 95% confidence interval (CI), and their individual differences were assessed by Bland-Altman analysis.

Results: The participants had a mean age of 38 years (range: 18-80 years). The mean PCS and MCS scores of the SF-12v2 were 50.3 (SD = 6.5) and 49.0 (SD = 9.0), while those of the VR-12 were 49.6 (SD = 6.2) and 49.7 (SD = 8.8), respectively. The corresponding paired differences (SF-12v2-VR-12) of the PCS and MCS were 0.8, 95% CI (0.4-1.1) and - 0.7, 95% CI (- 1.2 to - 0.2), respectively. All confidence limits fell within the minimal clinical important difference (MCID) of 3. The 95% limits of agreement were - 7.0, 8.5 for PCS and - 11.2, 9.9 for MCS, which fell outside the corresponding MCID for individual responses.

Conclusion: The SF-12v2 and the VR-12 reached mean equivalence at the group sample level, but there was a range of individual differences.

Keywords: Chinese; Health-related quality of life; Individual differences; SF-12v2; VR-12.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scatter plots of a the physical component score (PCS), and b the mental component score (MCS), between the SF-12v2 and the VR-12
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
95% confidence intervals for the pair differences of the two component and eight scale scores of the SF-12v2 and VR-12
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Bland–Altman Plots for the differences of a the physical component score (PCS), and b the mental component score (MCS), between the SF-12v2 and the VR-12
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Bland–Altman Plots for the differences of the eight scales, between the SF-12v2 and the VR-12
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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