[Health related quality of life in adults in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1)].

The aim of this study is to describe health related quality of life (HRQL) of the German adult population and provide current representative normative data for the version 2 of the SF-36 (SF-36V2) in the German population. In the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1) the SF-36V2 was used to measure health-related quality of life. Men report in all areas better HRQOL compared to women, a lower social status is associated with lower HRQOL-values. Having one or more chronic diseases is associated with lower values in all dimensions of health-related quality of life. Compared to 10 years ago, the General health seems to be much better in women aged 40 to 49 years and older and in men aged 50 to 59 years and older. Version 2 of the SF-36 has proved to be a robust instrument of health-related quality of life that is able to plausible map differences regarding socio-demographic and health characteristics. An English full-text version of this article is available at SpringerLink as supplemental.