12-Item Short Form Survey (SF-12)

The SF-12 is a self-reported outcome measure assessing the impact of health on an individual’s everyday life. It is often used as a quality of life measure.

The SF-12 is a shortened version of it’s predecessor, the SF-36, which itself evolved from the Medical Outcomes Study[1]. The SF-12 was created to reduce the burden of response[2].

The SF-12 uses the exact eight domains as the SF-36:

  1. Limitations in physical activities because of health problems.
  2. Limitations in social activities because of physical or emotional problems
  3. Limitations in usual role activities because of physical health problems
  4. Bodily pain
  5. General mental health (psychological distress and well-being)
  6. Limitations in usual role activities because of emotional problems
  7. Vitality (energy and fatigue)
  8. General health perceptions

Intended Population

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Like the SF-36, the SF-12 is designed as a general measure of health so can be used with the general population.

Method of Use

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Patients fill out a 12-question survey which is then scored by a clinician or researcher.

Unlike the SF-36, the SF-12 is not available for free by its authors, due to a scoring programme. Find out more about using this health survey here

The SF-12 has been tested in a range of disease populations, including mental health, stroke, and myocardial infarction.

When compared to the SF-36 in various patient groups varying in age, physical and mental health, the SF-12 scores were similar to the SF-36 but almost always had bigger standard errors[3].

A separate study[4] compared the SF-12 to the SF-36 in treatments for congestive heart failure, sleep apnoea, and inguinal hernia. The authors found that the SF-12 agreed with the MCS and PCS of the SF-36, noting that the scores recorded the same level of health and changed over time.

A third study of responses from nine European countries also confirmed a correlation between SF-12 and SF-36 component summaries and recommended the SF-12 to be useful for the assessment of large populations[5].

The SF-12 has been shown to reflect change over time like the SF-36[4].

There are two versions of the SF-12 which have some differences in scoring so it is recommended that users document which version they are using.