Using the SF-36 in a rural population of elderly in Italy: a pilot study

Summary Introduction The epidemiological research which focuses on need as-sessment and outcome of health services can select froma number of traditional and objective measures (such asmortality, hospitalizations, etc.), or from subjectivemeasures, including self-reported health status, healthrelated quality of life (HRQOL), etc. Recent studiesemphasize the importance and need for continued ex-ploration of HRQOL among elderly 1-3 ; in this contextthe SF-36 is considered a suitable tool for the asses-sment of disadvantaged, older adults 4 5 .The later years of people’s lives bring into focus essen-tial features of quality of life (QOL). In advanced age,factors which affect the physical conditions of a personand his ability to function independently become criti-cal. We therefore need an accurate picture of what oldage is really like, in order to better understand the cha-racteristics and the determinants of QOL. The rapidlyincreasing number of old and very old (> 85 years) peo-ple in Italy – as documented by EUROSTAT