Perceived health status as measured by the SF‐36 in patients with multiple sclerosis: a review

Abstract

This review of literature gives an overview of recent studies about perceived health status as measured by the Short-Form-36 (SF-36) Health Survey in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The SF-36 is one of the tools measuring health status in patients used in international research and clinical practice. It measures two main health concepts - physical and mental. The SF-36 represents a valid instrument able to detect differences in perceived health status in patients. A computer-aided search in Medline and PsycINFO resulted in 504 articles in English published from 1996 to August 2006. After the screening process on the basis of abstracts, eight articles consisting of empirical studies remained in which perceived health status was evaluated using the SF-36 Health Survey. Seven studies focused on disability and perceived health status in the SF-36. Two studies focused on the relationship between depression and perceived health status. These studies showed that MS patients with low disability and minor depression scored significantly better than patients with high disability and major depression in the SF-36 health dimensions. Gender seems to have no influence on perceived health status in MS patients. The longer the disease duration and the more severe the disease, the lower the patients scored in perceived health status. The more disabled, the more depressive and the older the patients, the poorer their perceived health status was. Health providers supporting appropriate treatment might pay more attention to more disabled and more depressive patients, with longer disease duration. Perceived health status can be a predictor of prognosis and intervention outcomes. The study shows the importance of measuring perceived health status in MS patients with implications for their quality of life and provision of care.

Gender Issues in Multiple Sclerosis: An Update

“…Gender issues in multiple sclerosis -Review questionnaire (eight studies), and acknowledged similar results for men and women [299]; this is concordant with others studies [300][301][302][303][304][305][306]. A few studies report that women [298,[307][308][309] or men [310][311][312][313] have a better QoL.…”

Bridging the goal intention–action gap in rehabilitation: a study ofif-thenimplementation intentions in neurorehabilitation

“…Self-reported measures of behaviourspecific self-efficacy (5 items each) [16,70] -Manage your disease -Managing your symptoms Subjective health status SF-36 V2 [54] Self-reported measure of health status (36-items) [71,72] Health related quality of life WHOQOL-BREF measure [55] (New Zealand version [73])…”

The effect of social support on the quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis

“…Previous research has suggested that social support is related to adaptation to MS disability, the quality of life related to health (HRQoL), psychological well-being and survival of people with chronic diseases [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] . The concept of social support has polysemic characteristics; however, there is a broad consensus about its different meanings based on a set of conceptual dimensions which supports empirical investigation 11 .…”

“…Previous research has shown that it is connected to actions of family and social reciprocity, has a positive effect on the overall health of patients 16 and on the life of caregivers 17,18 , reducing its burden [19][20][21] . High levels of social support are also associated with high levels of HRQoL and low levels of depression among patients with MS 4,6,8,22 . The research also highlights the predictive value of social support on the physical and mental dimension of HRQoL 4,6,8,9 .…”

“…High levels of social support are also associated with high levels of HRQoL and low levels of depression among patients with MS 4,6,8,22 . The research also highlights the predictive value of social support on the physical and mental dimension of HRQoL 4,6,8,9 . Our aim is to determine the association of social support with all dimensions of HRQoL because it is an important outcome variable in monitoring the health of the patient and a measure of the effectiveness of health interventions.…”