USE AND EVALUATION OF THE CZECH
VERSION OF THE SF-36 QUESTIONNAIRE
SELF-REPORTED HEALTH STATUS OF
MEDICAL STUDENTS
Skalská H. 1 , Sobotík Z. 2 , Jezberová D. 1 , Mareš J. 2
Faculty of Management and Information Technology, University of Education, Hradec Králové
2 Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic |
|
Summary:
SF-36 questionnaires were completed by 231 medical students of the Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové (1997, 1998). Results of
measurements of eight health dimensions are presented here. Significantly lower values for bodily pain were found in the group of overweight
students. Students with some reported cured diseases have significantly lower values for bodily pain and general health dimensions in
comparison with students without any reported disease.
In our sample a high rate of non-smokers (86.4 % men and 93.6 % women) and low rate of students with BMI > 25 (18.4 % men and
3.8 % women) were found. About 30 % of respondents reported one or more cured diseases.
In addition to the SF-36 questionnaire, students in 1998 completed also a special one-page form (3). The one-page form enabled direct
estimates of the eight dimensions of the health status on a scale from 0 % to 100 %. This study compares the results of measurement of
the health status for both instruments. Differences found here are compared and discussed with similar comparisons in an American study
(3). Results in both studies are similar but not the same. An indirect measurement of health status with specific questions in the SF-36 is
more objective than a direct measurement with the one-page form. Nevertheless, the SF-36 is limited in the number of possible answers
for some dimensions (RP, RE). In that case, our results indicate that a percentage scale from the one-page form seems better.
Additionally this study compares the results of the SF-36 in Czech medical students with comparable samples from other three European
countries. On average, the health dimensions of SF-36 in Czech medical students achieved the worst values in comparison with samples
from Switzerland, Germany and Great Britain.
Key words:
quality of life, SF-36, medical student, behavioural characteristics, health status
|