Brief 12-item version of SF-36 for large surveys and routine monitoring. ≈ 3 min to complete. Free with attribution.
SF-12 (12-Item Short Form Health Survey) is a validated clinical instrument used to assess brief 12-item version of sf-36 for large surveys and routine monitoring.. It is most often used for brief 12-item version of sf-36 for large surveys and routine monitoring.. The instrument contains 12 items. Typical administration time is ≈ 3 min.
Source / attribution: Free to use with citation
Brief 12-item version of SF-36 for large surveys and routine monitoring. SF-12 is part of standard practice in this setting because it provides a structured, replicable assessment that can be tracked over time and compared across patients or visits.
Like all screening or assessment instruments, SF-12 is a structured aid — not a diagnostic test in isolation. Results should be interpreted alongside history, examination, and clinical context. Where a score crosses an actionable threshold, the next step is typically a more detailed clinical evaluation rather than a definitive diagnosis.
Answer all 12 items below to see your SF-12 score and interpretation.
Each item is scored on a 5-point scale (1–5). Your score updates live as you answer.
All scoring runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere — close the tab and the answers are gone.
Two summary scores: Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS). Standardized mean 50, SD 10.
Scoring notes: Two summary scores: Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS). Standardized mean 50, SD 10.
The cutoffs below are drawn from the published validation literature. Always interpret in clinical context.
| Score range | Band | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0–25 | Poor health | Consider intervention |
| 26–50 | Fair health | Monitor |
| 51–100 | Good health | Maintain |
This is an illustrative walkthrough, not a real patient. Follow the same four steps with your own answers — or use the live calculator at the top of this page.
Read each question and choose the response that best fits. Each response has a number next to it — that number is the item's score. The example below uses illustrative answers.
| # | Item | Example response | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In general, would you say your health is: | Good | 3 |
| 2 | Does your health now limit you in moderate activities, such as moving a table, pushing a vacuum cleaner, bowling, or playing golf? | No, not limited at all | 3 |
| 3 | Does your health now limit you in climbing several flights of stairs? | No, not limited at all | 3 |
| 4 | During the past 4 weeks, have you accomplished less than you would like as a result of your physical health? | Some of the time | 3 |
| 5 | During the past 4 weeks, were you limited in the kind of work or other regular daily activities as a result of your physical health? | Some of the time | 3 |
| 6 | During the past 4 weeks, have you accomplished less than you would like as a result of any emotional problems (such as feeling depressed or anxious)? | Some of the time | 3 |
| 7 | During the past 4 weeks, did you not do work or other activities as carefully as usual as a result of any emotional problems? | Some of the time | 3 |
| 8 | During the past 4 weeks, how much did pain interfere with your normal work (including both work outside the home and housework)? | Moderately | 3 |
| 9 | How much of the time during the past 4 weeks have you felt calm and peaceful? | Some of the time | 3 |
| 10 | How much of the time during the past 4 weeks did you have a lot of energy? | Most of the time | 4 |
| 11 | How much of the time during the past 4 weeks have you felt downhearted and depressed? | Some of the time | 3 |
| 12 | During the past 4 weeks, how much of the time has your physical health or emotional problems interfered with your social activities (like visiting friends, relatives, etc.)? | A little of the time | 4 |
Add up all the item scores you noted in Step 1.
3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 4 = 38
Find the row in the interpretation table whose range contains your total:
Total = 38 falls between 26 and 50 → Fair health
Fair health. Monitor
A score is one input alongside history and examination. SF-12 supports clinical judgment — it does not replace it.
Psychometric figures are drawn from the validation literature and may vary across clinical populations and translations.
If SF-12 doesn't fit your context, related instruments in quality of life include:
| Scale | Measures | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWLS | 5-item global measure of life satisfaction based on cognitive judgment. | 5 | ≈ 1 min |
| EQ-5D-5L | Generic health status measure with 5 dimensions and 5 levels each plus visual analog scale. | 5 | ≈ 2 min |
| PHQ-9 | Severity of depression | 9 | ≈ 3 minutes |
| GAD-7 | Severity of generalized anxiety | 7 | ≈ 2 minutes |
| AUDIT | 10-item WHO screening tool for hazardous alcohol consumption and dependence. | 10 | ≈ 3 min |
| CHA2DS2-VASc | Annual stroke risk in non-valvular atrial fibrillation | 8 | — |
| Glasgow Coma Scale | Level of consciousness after head injury | 3 | — |
| MELD-Na | 3-month mortality in advanced liver disease; transplant prioritization | 5 | — |
SF-12 (12-Item Short Form Health Survey) is a validated instrument that assesses a brief 12-item version of SF-36 for large surveys and routine monitoring. It is designed for clinicians, medical students, evidence-synthesis researchers. It takes about 3 min to complete, and the 12 items are summed to produce a total score.
SF-12 typically takes about 3 min to administer. The exact duration varies a little depending on whether it is self-administered or completed with a clinician. Its brief format is part of what makes it practical for routine clinical use and for repeat administration when tracking change over time.
SF-12 contains 12 items. Item scores are summed to produce the total. Scores run from 0 to 100, grouped into 3 interpretation bands from ‘Poor health’ up to ‘Good health’.
On the SF-12 (total score 0–100), scores of 51–100 fall in the ‘Good health’ band — interpreted as: Maintain. The full ladder is: 0–25 — Poor health: Consider intervention.; 26–50 — Fair health: Monitor.; 51–100 — Good health: Maintain. A higher score reflects a more severe presentation, and crossing a cutoff is a prompt to step up assessment or care — but these bands are screening thresholds, not diagnoses.
Scores of 0–25 fall in the ‘Poor health’ band: Consider intervention. A low score is reassuring but does not by itself rule out the underlying condition — if symptoms or clinical suspicion persist, reassess over time or use a complementary evaluation rather than relying on the number alone.
SF-12 has reported Cronbach's α of 0.89 in validation samples and test–retest reliability of 0.82. Explains 90% of variance in SF-36 scales. In practical terms, a Cronbach’s α around 0.89 indicates good internal consistency (the items hang together well), and a test–retest reliability of 0.82 means scores are strongly stable when the scale is repeated without real clinical change.
SF-12 is free to use with attribution — clinical, educational, and research use is permitted provided the original source is credited. If you publish results or reproduce the scale, include the citation to the source paper.
Ware, J. E., Kosinski, M., & Keller, S. D. (1996). A 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Medical Care, 34(3), 220-233. This is the original publication for the SF-12 — the reference to cite when reporting results.
No. SF-12 is a structured assessment aid, not a diagnostic test. Its proper role is assessment with the SF-12 — it standardizes assessment and flags who needs closer evaluation, but the result must be weighed alongside history, examination, and clinical context. When a score conflicts with your clinical impression, clinical judgment takes precedence; treatment decisions should never rest on a screening score alone.
SF-12 is supported by the following peer-reviewed sources: