The Results Are In

The Results Are In

We are pleased to announce the availability of results from the QualityMetric 2009 Norming Study.

In 2009, QualityMetric commissioned a survey of 8,000 people in the U.S. population that was completed in two waves in the spring (June-July) and fall (September-October). Its primary purpose was to update the norms for the SF™ health surveys as well as develop norms for the Pain Impact Questionnaire™ (PIQ-6™), MOS Sleep Scale-Revised (MOS Sleep-R), Premenstrual Symptoms Impact Survey™ (PMSIS™), and the MOS Cognitive Functioning Scale-Revised (MOS COG-R).

What are survey norms and why are they important?

Generally speaking, a norm is a standard of average performance. In the world of patient-reported outcomes (PROs), norms are empirical benchmarks based on scores obtained from a representative sample of the general population. Norms provide valuable context for interpreting survey results for an individual or group and can be segmented by age, gender, and age-by-gender. And as a result of the QualityMetric 2009 Norming Study, we now also have condition-specific norms for 40 self-reported conditions. These condition-specific norms in particular are significant because they allow for a more accurate understanding of an individual's functional health and well-being, such as how a person is faring compared to others with the same condition. For example, instead of comparing the health status of someone with diabetes to the norm of the general population, the individual can now be compared to the norm of those within the population that report having diabetes.

Other Important Results and Outputs
Another key component of the QualityMetric 2009 Norming Study was the collection of norms for both standard (4-week recall) and acute (1-week recall) forms of the SF-36v2, SF-12v2, and SF-8 Health Surveys. And for the first time, norms for the 24-hour recall form of the SF-8 were collected. Taking into consideration the emerging interest in ePRO solutions for collecting PRO data, the QualityMetric 2009 Norming Study also investigated the effects of single item administration versus survey grid format. It was found that the single item administration of SF health survey items resulted in psychometrically comparable data to the grid format, providing empirical support for the use of ePRO solutions in the administration of SF items.

The 2009 norms will be available via our scoring software and consulting work by the end of June. Please contact a QualityMetric Account Executive in the interim with any questions.

Note: Two posters presented by QualityMetric experts at ISPOR's 16th Annual International Meeting were developed with data from this norming study. See our ISPOR story for more information.