The SF-36 summary scales were valid, reliable, and equivalent in a Chinese population

To find out whether the SF-36 physical and mental health summary (PCS and MCS) scales are valid and equivalent in the Chinese population in Hong Kong (HK). The SF-36 data of a cross-sectional study on 2,410 Chinese adults randomly selected from the general population in HK were analyzed. The hypothesized two-factor structure of the physical and mental health summary scales (PCS and MCS) was replicated and the expected differences in scores between known morbidity groups were shown. The internal reliability coefficients of the PCS and MCS scales ranged from 0.85 to 0.87. The effect size differences between the U.S. standard and HK-specific PCS and MCS scores were mostly