The SF-36 Health Survey - Assessment and Documentation of Health Related Quality of Life

The assessment and documentation of health-related quality of life has become an established concept in the evaluation of interventions and the representation of health conditions within large populations, not only in psychology but also in the field of medicine. Following a developmental phase of several decades, a series of well-established disease-specific as well as generic assessment instruments are now available. The SF-36 Health Survey is one of the most widely accepted generic instruments. Based on the concept of health-related quality of life, this article describes the development and the psychometric evaluation of the SF-36. A focus is placed on the application of the instrument within rehabilitation research with reference to accident injuries. In line with recent developments, the concept of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and its relationship to the SF-36 are also discussed.