RAND-36
Summary and structure
The RAND-36 (RAND 36-Item Health Survey) is a validated, multidimensional questionnaire that measures health-related quality of life (HRQoL) across physical, emotional, and social domains. It was developed by John E. Ware Jr. and Cathy Donald Sherbourne (1992) as part of the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) and represents the public-domain equivalent of the SF-36®.
The RAND-36 contains 36 items grouped into eight health domains:
• Physical Functioning (PF)
• Role Limitations due to Physical Health (RP)
• Bodily Pain (BP)
• General Health (GH)
• Vitality (VT)
• Social Functioning (SF)
• Role Limitations due to Emotional Problems (RE)
• Mental Health (MH)
Each domain is scored from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health status. The RAND-36 also yields two composite indices — the Physical Component Summary (PCS) and the Mental Component Summary (MCS) — reflecting overall physical and mental well-being. Unlike the proprietary SF-36®, the RAND-36 uses an open scoring algorithm that is freely accessible for research and clinical use.
Key Data
Age group: Adults (≥18 years)
Languages: Available in multiple languages
Intended Use
The RAND-36 is designed to assess overall health status and quality of life in both general and clinical populations. It provides a broad view of how individuals perceive their physical and mental health, helping practitioners evaluate the impact of disease, treatment, or rehabilitation on daily functioning and well-being.
It is commonly used in clinical practice, research, rehabilitation, and public-health studies to:
• Measure baseline health and track changes over time
• Compare outcomes across conditions and interventions
• Assess the effectiveness of care programs and digital therapeutics
• Monitor health-related quality of life in chronic-disease management
Because it covers both physical and emotional dimensions, the RAND-36 is well suited for blended-care models and digital health platforms such as SwissDTx, where it can provide continuous insight into overall patient well-being alongside condition-specific measures.
Information for Practitioners
The RAND-36 offers a comprehensive yet practical framework for understanding patients’ self-perceived health and functional status. It can be self-administered or interviewer-administered and typically takes 5–10 minutes to complete.
Practitioners can use the RAND-36 to:
• Quantify a patient’s physical and mental health at baseline
• Identify functional limitations affecting quality of life
• Evaluate treatment outcomes and recovery trajectories
• Compare individual results with population norms or between patient groups
The instrument’s multidimensional design allows for a holistic interpretation of patient well-being, complementing symptom-specific tools such as the PHQ-9 or GAD-7. Its strong psychometric properties, widespread validation, and open-access status make it an ideal choice for integrated care programs, rehabilitation, and digital outcome tracking.
Authors
John E. Ware Jr., Ph.D.
Cathy Donald Sherbourne, Ph.D.
Scientific References
Ware J.E. Jr., & Sherbourne C.D. (1992). The MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36): I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Medical Care, 30(6), 473–483. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005650-199206000-00002
Complementary RAND reference: Hays R.D., Sherbourne C.D., & Mazel R.M. (1993). The RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0. Health Economics, 2(3), 217–227.
Copyright
© RAND Corporation. The RAND 36-Item Health Survey (RAND-36) is a public document and may be used without permission.
