The quality of life of men who have sex with men in China: reliability and validity testing of the SF-36 questionnaire

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 19;8(12):e83362. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083362. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the psychometric properties of the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) in the men who have sex with men (MSM) population in China.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 373 MSM from September to December, 2012, in Zhengzhou and Huludao City, China. Internal reliability of the questionnaire was calculated by Cronbach's α coefficient. Validity was analyzed through construct validity, divisional validity, and collective validity testing.

Results: The overall Cronbach's α coefficient of the SF-36 questionnaire was 0.943, while the Cronbach's α coefficients for each of the dimensions were all > 0.70. Results showed that the SF-36 questionnaire was reliable and valid.

Conclusions: This study provided evidence that the SF-36 is an acceptable, valid and reliable instrument in evaluating the quality of life of MSM in Mainland China.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • China
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Health Promotion
  • Homosexuality, Male / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Health / statistics & numerical data
  • Middle Aged
  • Psychometrics / methods*
  • Quality of Life*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number 81273186 and 71103200). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.