Medical Outcomes Study:  12-Item Short Form Survey

The 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) was developed for the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS), a multi-year study of patients with chronic conditions. The resulting short-form survey instrument provides a solution to the problem faced by many investigators who must restrict survey length. The instrument was designed to reduce respondent burden while achieving minimum standards of precision for purposes of group comparisons involving multiple health dimensions.

Available documents:

MOS 12-Item Short Form Survey Instrument (SF-12)

Survey instrument at www.sf-36.org (may require registration or purchase)

Scoring Instructions for MOS 12-Item Short Form Survey Instrument (SF-12)

Scoring instructions at www.ucla.edu, under "Other helpful programs"

Related reading:

Measuring Function and Well-Being: The Medical Outcomes Study Approach

Stewart AL, Ware JE., eds. (1992)

Document available for order at dukeupress.edu

User's Manual for Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Core Measures of Health-Related Quality of Life

Hays, RD, Sherbourne, CD, Mazel, RM. RAND Corporation, MR-162-RC, 1995.
This manual summarizes the MOS measures and presents psychometric results from the MOS. It is designed to be a companion to the book, Measuring Function and Well-Being: The Medical Outcomes Study Approach.

Full document

Other instruments from the Medical Outcomes Study

This website offers a list of all instruments that have been approved by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Medical Outcomes Trust.

See other instruments at outcomes-trust.org

The Veterans RAND 12 Item Health Survey (VR12): What is it and How it is Used — 2009

Iqbal SU, Rogers W, Selim A, Qian S, Lee A, Ren XS, Rothendler J, Miller D, Kazis LE

Center for Health Quality, Outcomes, and Economic Research, A Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence, VA Medical Center, Bedford, MA, USA,

Read abstract at Pub Med.gov

Bibliography for the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS)

See bibliography