Occupational Medicine 2016;66:419–420 doi:10.1093/occmed/kqv203
QUESTIONNAIRE REVIEW
The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire History Cognitive and emotional dimensions to illness perceptions are recognized to influence health, engagement with work and sickness absence for a range of illnesses [1,2]. Cognitive aspects include the patient’s understanding of the illness such as its cause, the effectiveness of treatment and its likely course. Emotional features include the degree of anger, fear or mood change. The 80-item Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ) and its shorter revised (IPQ-R) and brief (IPQ-B) versions were developed to assess these illness dimensions.
Description and items The IPQ-B consists of nine items rated on a scale from 0 (minimum) to 10 (maximum). The first five assess cognitive perceptions such as effect on life (item 1); duration of illness (item 2); control over illness (item 3); beliefs about the effectiveness of treatment (item 4); and experience of symptoms (item 5). Items 6 and 8 assess emotional aspects to include concern about illness and a multifaceted question about mood. Item 7 assesses degree of understanding of the illness. The final item is open-ended, asking respondents to rank the three most important factors causing their illness. The questionnaire has been translated into 26 languages. It is intended for use in groups rather than individuals, so is more suited to research settings.
some evidence that positive illness perceptions are associated with better treatment adherence in asthmatic and diabetic patients [4,6]. Negative illness perceptions have been associated in an occupational health setting with increased future disability and prolonged sickness absence independent of the severity of the medical condition [7]. A few studies have assessed the effectiveness of interventions to change illness perceptions to improve patient or occupational outcomes. Most of these have involved a small number (50–300) of subjects, required intensive treatment (2–20 h) and achieved only relatively modest changes in illness perception and improvements in outcome such as diabetic control, functional ability and return to work [8–10]. Personal control over the illness and beliefs about its cause are the perceptions most amenable to change. We suggest that the most appropriate use of the Brief IPQ in occupational health settings is likely to be in the assessment of illness perceptions relating to chronic conditions such as cancer, arthritis or diabetes. The questionnaire may also have value in assessing recovery from acute or severe episodes of illness such as myocardial infarction or major surgery. There is a need for intervention studies that address unhelpful negative perceptions about illness to assess their utility in facilitating an earlier return to work and to establish the value of the questionnaire in specific occupational illness groups. Subhashis Basu and Jon Poole
Validity and reliability The validity and reliability of the IPQ-B has been systematically evaluated [3]. The predictive validity of the questionnaire (its ability to predict scores in other measures) has been assessed in a sample of post-myocardial infarction patients; for example, higher concern over illness was moderately correlated with a slower return to work (r = 0.43, P
QUESTIONNAIRE REVIEW
The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire History Cognitive and emotional dimensions to illness perceptions are recognized to influence health, engagement with work and sickness absence for a range of illnesses [1,2]. Cognitive aspects include the patient’s understanding of the illness such as its cause, the effectiveness of treatment and its likely course. Emotional features include the degree of anger, fear or mood change. The 80-item Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ) and its shorter revised (IPQ-R) and brief (IPQ-B) versions were developed to assess these illness dimensions.
Description and items The IPQ-B consists of nine items rated on a scale from 0 (minimum) to 10 (maximum). The first five assess cognitive perceptions such as effect on life (item 1); duration of illness (item 2); control over illness (item 3); beliefs about the effectiveness of treatment (item 4); and experience of symptoms (item 5). Items 6 and 8 assess emotional aspects to include concern about illness and a multifaceted question about mood. Item 7 assesses degree of understanding of the illness. The final item is open-ended, asking respondents to rank the three most important factors causing their illness. The questionnaire has been translated into 26 languages. It is intended for use in groups rather than individuals, so is more suited to research settings.
some evidence that positive illness perceptions are associated with better treatment adherence in asthmatic and diabetic patients [4,6]. Negative illness perceptions have been associated in an occupational health setting with increased future disability and prolonged sickness absence independent of the severity of the medical condition [7]. A few studies have assessed the effectiveness of interventions to change illness perceptions to improve patient or occupational outcomes. Most of these have involved a small number (50–300) of subjects, required intensive treatment (2–20 h) and achieved only relatively modest changes in illness perception and improvements in outcome such as diabetic control, functional ability and return to work [8–10]. Personal control over the illness and beliefs about its cause are the perceptions most amenable to change. We suggest that the most appropriate use of the Brief IPQ in occupational health settings is likely to be in the assessment of illness perceptions relating to chronic conditions such as cancer, arthritis or diabetes. The questionnaire may also have value in assessing recovery from acute or severe episodes of illness such as myocardial infarction or major surgery. There is a need for intervention studies that address unhelpful negative perceptions about illness to assess their utility in facilitating an earlier return to work and to establish the value of the questionnaire in specific occupational illness groups. Subhashis Basu and Jon Poole
Validity and reliability The validity and reliability of the IPQ-B has been systematically evaluated [3]. The predictive validity of the questionnaire (its ability to predict scores in other measures) has been assessed in a sample of post-myocardial infarction patients; for example, higher concern over illness was moderately correlated with a slower return to work (r = 0.43, P
