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LetterLetters: Comments and Responses

SF-36 and Diabetes Outcome Measures

Mayer B. Davidson
DOI: 10.2337/diacare.28.6.1536-a Published 1 June 2005
Mayer B. Davidson
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In a recent issue of Diabetes Care, Hill-Briggs et al. (1) found that the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form (SF-36) did not improve in a population whose outcome measures (HbA1c, triglycerides, and diastolic blood pressure) showed modest improvement. We found a similar lack of change in the standard SF-36 in a group of patients whose HbA1c levels, measured in a boronate affinity assay in which the upper limit of normal was 6.8%, fell >3.0% from an initial median of 11.9% (2). Hill-Briggs et al. suggested that diabetes-specific questions be either added to the SF-36 or used alone to evaluate the impact of diabetes interventions on health status and health-related quality of life. We selected the latter by including the following two diabetes-specific questions (developed by Ron Hayes, PhD, Rand Corp., Santa Monica, CA) in our study.

1) During the past months how much did your diabetes cause a problem with each of the following?

  • Doing things on the spur-of-the-moment

  • The amount of time or inconvenience involved in treating your diabetes

  • Maintaining a diet and preparing food

  • Having a large appetite for food

  • Feeling embarrassed in public while managing your diabetes

  • Taking a trip or going on vacation

  • Pain or discomfort involved in taking care of your diabetes

  • Doing things socially with friends/relatives

  • Planning meals or eating out with others

  • Your family life, getting along with others

  • Having to plan things differently to take care of your diabetes

  • Lack of interest in sex or enjoyment of sex

2) Overall, how much of a problem is it to live a normal life and take care of your diabetes?

Responses were given the following discrete scores: very much a problem (0), somewhat of a problem (33), a little bit of a problem (66), not a problem (100), and not applicable. Thus, the higher the score, the more positive the answer. These items were scored in the same manner as the standard SF-36 form. Both of them improved significantly in our population (2), validating the suggestion by Hill-Briggs et al.

Footnotes

  • DIABETES CARE

References

  1. Hill-Briggs F, Gary TL, Baptiste-Roberts K, Brancati FL: Thirty-six–item short-form outcomes following a randomized controlled trial in type 2 diabetes (Brief Report). Diabetes Care 28: 443–444, 2005
  2. Peters AL, Davidson MB: Application of a diabetes managed care program: the feasibility of using nurses and a computer system to provide effective care. Diabetes Care 21:1037–1043, 1998

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© 2021 by the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care Print ISSN: 0149-5992, Online ISSN: 1935-5548.