Construct validation of the USA-Spanish version of the SF-36 health survey in a Cuban-American population with benign prostatic hyperplasia

This study examined the USA-Spanish version of the SF-36 health survey (validated in Mexican-Americans) and tested its construct validity in Cuban-Americans with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The study evaluated the SF-36 and American Urological Association (AUA) Symptom Index scores of 264 individuals with BPH. Individuals were assigned to one of the following groups: non-Hispanics who received the English version, Cubans who received the English version and Cubans who received the Spanish version. The objective was to determine the correlation between the individuals' SF-36 and AUA Symptom Index scores. It was expected that patients in the severe category would have the lowest quality of life (QoL) scores. The analysis was conducted using a MANOVA with a planned comparisons procedure. For all eight scales, the English and Spanish versions of the SF-36 were able to classify individuals with mild/moderate symptoms of BPH as having statistically higher QoL scores than those with severe symptoms of BPH. We concluded that the USA-Spanish version of the SF-36 can differentiate between levels of symptom severity in individuals with BPH. More importantly the construct validity of the English and Spanish versions of the SF-36 was demonstrated through significant correlation with the theorized constructs.