Health-related quality of life in Brazil: normative data for the SF-36 in a general population sample in the south of the country.

Nascimento Cruz, Luciane; De Almeida Fleck, Marcelo Pio; Oliveira, Michele Rosana; Alves Camey, Suzi; Hoffmann, Juliana Feliciati; Bagattini, Ângela Maria; Polanczyk, Carisi Anne

The objective of this study was to provide normative SF-36 scores in a general population sample in Brazil and to describe differences in mean scores according to socio-demographic characteristics. The SF-36 questionnaire was distributed to a randomly selected sample of the general population of Porto Alegre in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The response rate was 68% and 755 subjects were included (38% male, 62% female). Lower health status was revealed among females in the 30 to 44 year age bracket, from the lower income class, with less education and selfreported chronic medical conditions. The results and percentiles of scores of the SF-36 are reported as normative data for the general population. The SF-36 was an acceptable and practical instrument for measuring health-related quality of life in a sample of Brazilians. The results of this study can be useful for researchers using the SF-36 questionnaire in other groups to compare the scores with normative data. The SF-36 may prove a valuable tool for discovering vulnerable groups in epidemiological studies due to the ability to discriminate between different population subgroups.

PORTO Alegre (Brazil); BRAZIL; MEN'S health; WOMEN'S health; HEALTH surveys; PUBLIC health; SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC factors

Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 2013, Vol 18, Issue 7, p1911

1413-8123

Academic Journal

10.1590/S1413-81232013000700006