Distribution of copies of the SF-36® Health Survey under different labels is confusing; for example, what is the difference between the SF-36® and the RAND-36 versions?
The RAND-36 is an exact replica of the content of the SF-36®. However, because RAND uses different scoring algorithms for two of the 8 scales (Bodily Pain, General Health), their results for those scales are not comparable with the standard SF-36®. The differences are largest for the Bodily Pain scale; RAND scores are five points or more higher for more than one-third of respondents. Studies cited in the SF-36® bibliography have shown that the RAND-36 scoring does not meet scaling and scoring assumptions as well as the standard SF-36® scoring in the U.S. or in other countries. For these reasons and because the SF-36® is readily available, the RAND scoring is rarely used. Fewer than 10 of the first 300 publications about either version used the RAND-36 scoring.
