SF-12 or SF-36 in pituitary disease?  The shorter 12-item version (SF-12) can improve efficiency of patient monitoring.  This study aimed to determine whether SF-12 can replace SF-36 in pituitary care.


 In a longitudinal cohort study (August 2016 to December 2018) among 103 endoscopically operated adult pituitary tumor patients, physical and mental component scores (PCS and MCS) of SF-36 and SF-12 were measured preoperatively, and 6 weeks and 6 months postoperatively.  Mean differences and agreement between SF-36 and SF-12 change in scores (preoperative vs. 6 months) were assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and limits of agreement, depicting 95% of individual patients.


 In the longitudinal study, mean differences between change in SF-36 and SF-12 scores were 1.4 (PCS) and 0.4 (MCS) with fair agreement for PCS (ICC = 0.546) and substantial agreement for MCS (ICC = 0.931).  For 95% of individual patients, the difference between change in SF-36 and SF-12 scores varied between -14.0 and 16.9 for PCS and between -7.8 and 8.7 for MCS.  On a group level, SF-12 can reliably reproduce MCS in pituitary patients, although PCS is less well correlated.  However, individual differences between SF-36 and SF-12 can be large. 
SF-12
SF-12 or SF-36 in pituitary disease?  The most frequently used generic HRQoL questionnaire is the Short Form-36 (SF-36).  This study aimed to determine whether SF-12 can replace SF-36 in pituitary care.


 In a longitudinal cohort study (August 2016 to December 2018) among 103 endoscopically operated adult pituitary tumor patients, physical and mental component scores (PCS and MCS) of SF-36 and SF-12 were measured preoperatively, and 6 weeks and 6 months postoperatively.  Mean differences and agreement between SF-36 and SF-12 change in scores (preoperative vs. 6 months) were assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and limits of agreement, depicting 95% of individual patients.


 In the longitudinal study, mean differences between change in SF-36 and SF-12 scores were 1.4 (PCS) and 0.4 (MCS) with fair agreement for PCS (ICC = 0.546) and substantial agreement for MCS (ICC = 0.931).  For 95% of individual patients, the difference between change in SF-36 and SF-12 scores varied between -14.0 and 16.9 for PCS and between -7.8 and 8.7 for MCS.  However, individual differences between SF-36 and SF-12 can be large. 
SF-36