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Construct Validation of the Greek SF-36 Health Survey

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Abstract

Objective: To test the construct validity of the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey, using structural equation modeling (SEM). Methods: Cross -sectional survey was conducted. Data were collected from 1007 participants in a stratified sample of adult general population, interviewed face-to-face by trained interviewers. Results: SEM analyses supported the superiority of the eight first-order factor model of health. Higher -order analyses suggested that a model with three correlated second-order factors (physical health, general well-being, general mental health) and one third-order factor (health) provided a satisfactory fit to the data. Conclusions: These results confirm the multidimensional structure of the SF-36 and underscore the feasibility of multinational comparisons of health status using this instrument. They also support the use of eight subscale scores in parallel with three second -order summary scores rather than one overall score.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Panteion University, Athens, Greece

    Fotios Anagnostopoulos

  2. Faculty of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece

    Fotios Anagnostopoulos, Dimitris Niakas & Evelina Pappa

Authors
  1. Fotios Anagnostopoulos
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  2. Dimitris Niakas
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  3. Evelina Pappa
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Correspondence to Fotios Anagnostopoulos.

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Anagnostopoulos, F., Niakas, D. & Pappa, E. Construct Validation of the Greek SF-36 Health Survey. Qual Life Res 14, 1959–1965 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-005-3866-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-005-3866-8

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