Health related quality of life (SF-36 questionnaire)

To describe Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) the SF-36 questionnaire was used [27]. We used the interview-based version of this tool consisting of 36 questions. Based on these questions’ values, eight scales describing physical and mental health can be assessed. The physical part is represented by Physical Functioning (PF), Role Physical (RP), Bodily Pain (BP) and General Health (GH). Vitality (VT), Social Functioning (SF), Role Emotional (RE) and Mental Health (MH) describe the mental aspect of HRQL. Usually regular scoring is performed first (RS, 0–100 points). Physical and mental component summary scores (PSC and MCS) can be achieved by transformation of the summary scores and is a widespread method [28–30].