Table 2.

Commonly Used Assessments of Functioning and Quality of Life

Scale	Number of Items	Areas of Assessment	Rating Scale
36-Item Short-Form Health Survey80	36 patient-rated items	8 subscales: physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health perception, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional, mental health	Items are rated numerically either with a Likert scale (1 to 5 and 1 to 6) or with yes (1) or no (2) responses
Endicott Work Productivity Scale87	25 patient-rated items	Assesses how medical disorders impact work performance across a range of activities (eg, pace of work, organization, prioritizing, not performing expected tasks)	Items are generally rated on a 5-point scale (0 [never] to 4 [almost always]); there are also open-ended items that ask patients the number of hours worked and to provide a reason why fewer hours than expected have been worked
Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS), Global Assessment of Relational Functioning (GARF)89	Each scale provides 1 score that assesses functioning	GAF: Measures social, occupational, and psychological functioning in relation to psychiatric symptom severity	GAF: 10 categorical ratings each within a 10-point range (ie, 100 to 91: superior functioning; 10 to 1: nonfunctioning [ie, violent, suicidal, persistent lack of hygiene])
		SOFAS: Measures social and occupational functioning independent of symptom severity	SOFAS: 10 categorical ratings each within a 10-point range (ie, 100 to 91: superior functioning; 90 to 81: good functioning with minimal, socially appropriate symptomatology; 80 to 71: transient and minimal impairment)
		GARF: 3 major content areas associated with familial and other social relationships: problem solving, organization, emotional climate	GARF: 5 categories with scores ranging from 100 to 81 (relational unit is functioning satisfactorily) to 20 to 1 (relational unit has become too dysfunctional to retain continuity of contact and attachment)
Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire86	93 items	5 subscales: physical health, subjective feelings, leisure time activities, social relationships, general activities	Items are rated on a 5-point scale (0 [never] to 4 [almost always]) and generally follow the same format: During the past week, how often have you been pleased with your work accomplishments, kept your room/apartment/house cleaned to your satisfaction, shopped for food or other household items to your satisfaction, and joked or laughed with other people?
		3 scales that are appropriate for each patient: work, household duties, school/course work
Sheehan Disability Scale82	3 patient-rated items	Work/school, social life, family life functioning	Combination of visual, verbal, and numerical anchors (0 [not at all] to 10 [extremely]) ≥ 5 on any item is indicative of impaired functioning
Social Adjustment Scale–Self-Report85	42 items divided into 4 categories: performance, friction, finer aspects of relationships, inner feelings/satisfaction	Work, social/leisure, extended family, and marital, parental, and familial relationships	5-point Likert scale with higher scores indicating a greater level of impairment; total score can be obtained by adding the individual item scores then dividing by the number of items that have actually been scored
Work Limitations Questionnaire83	25 items	4 subscales: time demands (5 items), physical demands (6 items), mental-interpersonal demands (9 items), output demands (5 items)	Scores range from 0 (limited none of the time) to 100 (limited all of the time) and represent the reported amount of time in the prior 2 wk respondents experienced work limitations; additionally, using an algorithm, Work Limitations Questionnaire scores can be converted into an estimate of productivity loss
Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire88	6 items	Assesses patients on the number of hours lost during the last days due to the patient's “problem” or any other reason, the number of hours worked, and the effect the patient's “problem” has on productivity at work and on other activities	An overall work productivity score and a quantification of overall work productivity and impairment in regular activities are obtained
World Health Organization 5-Item Well-Being Index84	5 patient-rated, depression-specific items	Cheerful/good spirits, calm/relaxed, active/vigorous, wake feeling fresh/rested, life is full of things that interest me	Rated on a 0 (at no time) to 5 (all of the time) Likert scale
			A score of 25 represents the best possible quality of life, and a score < 13 is indicative of a diagnosis of major depressive disorder