Discriminant and criterion validation of the US-Spanish version of the SF-36 Health Survey in a Cuban-American population with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

OBJECTIVES: The study tested the validity of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form (SF-36) Health Survey (originally validated in the Mexican-American population) in a different Spanish subgroup to determine whether the Spanish version is equally applicable to the Cuban-American population.
METHODS: Individuals with and without benign prostatic hyperplasia served as the study sample. The SF-36 scores of 264 individuals with benign prostatic hyperplasia were compared with those of 273 individuals without benign prostatic hyperplasia to determine discriminant and criterion validity. These individuals were assigned to one of the following groups: non-Hispanic subjects, Cuban subjects who took the English version, and Cuban subjects who took the Spanish version. MANOVA with planned comparisons was used for this analysis.
RESULTS: In all three culture/language groups, the quality-of-life scores of individuals without benign prostatic hyperplasia were significantly different than those of benign prostatic hyperplasia individuals. These results demonstrated that the English and Spanish versions can differentiate between individuals with and without benign prostatic hyperplasia. Moreover, the quality-of-life scores of Cuban subjects with and without benign prostatic hyperplasia who took the English version were statistically similar to those of their counterparts who took the Spanish version.
CONCLUSIONS: The US-Spanish version of the SF-36 appears to be valid when used to measure health status in Cuban-American subjects with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Further studies should be conducted to verify the validity of the US-Spanish version of the SF-36 for other health conditions.