OBJECTIVES The Cervantes scale is a specific health-related-quality-of-life (HRQoL) questionnaire developed in Spanish women through and beyond menopause. The original 31-item scale was reduced to a less time consuming 16-item sort form: The Cervantes-SF. The aim of this work was to assess the psychometric properties of the Cervantes-SF in a routine clinical sample of perimenopause and postmenopause women. METHODS Peri and postmenopause adult women were recruited in twelve outpatient clinics of Gynecology. All of the patients completed both scales, the 31-items form and the abridged version, however, order of administration was balanced equally to avoid administration bias. A sub-sample of 31 women answered the sort form within 1-2 weeks later (rete-test). Correlation between forms and test-retest reliability were used to test measurement stability. Item analysis, internal consistency reliability, item-total and item-domain correlations and item correlation with the generic Spanish version of the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire were also studied. RESULTS A sample of 215 women [mean age 55 years old (SD=5.3)] was enrolled. Internal consistency was good (Cronbach’s a=0.829) but slightly lower than that of the original scale (a=0.895). Dimension reliabilities ranged between a=0.636 (Health) and a=0.923 (Vasomotor). Correlations between extended and reduced subscales was high and significant in all cases (p<0.001), ranging from r=0.790 for Health to r=0.872 for Vasomotor. Correlation between total scores was also high (r=0.885) and no differences were found between mean scores (Effect size=0.353). Short-form total score correlation with EQ-5D utility score was negative and significant (r=-0.487) and also with EQ-5D Health VAS (r=-0.432). Test-retest correlation was high (r=0.886). Completion of Cervantes-SF required half of the time than the original scale. CONCLUSIONS The abridged 16-item Cervantes scale (Cervantes-SF) maintained the original psychometric properties. This version extends 51% of the original length, being faster to apply and making it specially suitable for routine medical practice.