The RAND 36-Item Health Survey (Version 1.0) taps eight health concepts: physical functioning, bodily pain, role limitations due to physical health problems, role limitations due to personal or emotional problems, emotional well-being, social functioning, energy/fatigue, and general health perceptions. It also includes a single item that provides an indication of perceived change in health.
This scientifically validated inventory was included in our survey. The overall results are as follows:
A high score defines a more favorable health state. The reference data set is from the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS). This was a 2-year observational study of patients with chronic conditions, conducted in a cross-sectional phase among 22,462 patients and in a longitudinal phase among 2,349 patients (Tarlov et al., 1989). MOS represents the base data set for interpreting any RAND36 results.
Hi level, what this data shows is that PFS patients are worse off in all domains except Physical and Pain, compared to the chronically ill participants in the MOS study referenced above. That’s a very serious observation, though the higher standard deviation (STD) shows that the variability is significant.
Considering that many of the chronic illnesses covered in the MOS study are eligible for benefits in various countries, recognition of the disease and pushing for benefits eligibility should be a main objective moving forward until a cure or at least effective treatment is found.
More interpretation and further analysis to follow.
With increasing aggregation of RAND36 results, first over all dugs and then all domains, it becomes increasingly clear that a shorter duration of use, until side effects arise, predicts a less favorable overall health state after quitting the substance/drug.