ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the reader with a brief but comprehensive overview of the development, psychometric properties, basic administration and interpretive guidelines, and potential uses of the Short Form-36v2 Health Survey (SF-36v2) in primary care settings. It presents this same type of psychometric information for the SF-12v2 Health Survey (SF-12v2), as this abbreviated version of the SF-36v2 likely provides an adequate and more useful assessment for the majority of patients being referred to psychologists in primary care settings. Measures of health status and health-related quality of life are commonly used in randomized controlled trials for various reasons, including to support labeling claims for pharmaceutical and medical device products. The chapter demonstrates how each of the Short Form instruments can be useful in primary care and other healthcare settings for identifying, monitoring, and assessing the outcomes of treatment for patients with behavioral health disorders.
