Description

The Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R-38) is a revised version of the original Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ). According to the source material, it was developed by Moss-Morris and colleagues in 2002 in order to address minor psychometric limitations of the original instrument and to include additional dimensions such as cyclical timeline perceptions, illness coherence, and emotional representations.

The questionnaire focuses on the way individuals perceive, interpret, and mentally represent their illness, covering both cognitive and emotional aspects of illness perception.

Purpose

The main purpose of the IPQ-R-38 is to assess the major dimensions through which patients understand and interpret their illness.

According to the source file, the questionnaire examines areas such as perceived personal control, perceived treatment control, the course and cyclical nature of illness, the meaning or coherence of illness, and its emotional impact.

Assessing these perceptions may help researchers and healthcare professionals better understand how patients’ beliefs about illness are related to adaptation and illness management.

Structure of the Questionnaire

The source material states that the IPQ-R-38 consists of 38 statements representing different components of illness representations.

The questionnaire also includes sections concerning symptoms and perceived causes of illness.

Illness Identity

Patients are first asked whether they have experienced particular symptoms, using a Yes/No response format. They are then asked whether they believe each symptom is specifically related to their illness.

The number of symptoms attributed to the illness forms the Illness Identity subscale.

Perceived Causes

The source file also refers to 18 statements assessing perceived causes of illness, such as heredity, diet, smoking, and personality-related factors.

Symptoms

The material additionally mentions 14 possible symptoms, including pain, fatigue, weight loss, and the presence of a lump.

Administration

For statements assessing illness beliefs and perceived causes, responses are given on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from:

1 = “Strongly disagree” to 5 = “Strongly agree.”

For symptom assessment and symptom attribution, a Yes/No response format is used.

Scoring and Interpretation

Scores are calculated separately for the questionnaire’s individual dimensions.

Higher scores on a particular subscale generally indicate a stronger endorsement of the corresponding illness perception. For example, a higher personal control score may reflect a stronger belief that the individual can influence the course of the illness.

The IPQ-R-38 is best interpreted as a multidimensional profile of illness perceptions, rather than as a single overall score.

Validity and Reliability

According to the source material, exploratory factor analysis provided evidence of construct validity.

Internal consistency reliability, assessed with Cronbach’s alpha, is reported to range from 0.66 for the cyclical timeline subscale to 0.80 for the emotional impact subscale.

Greek Adaptation

The source file reports a Greek adaptation and standardization of the questionnaire by Anagnostopoulos and Spanea (2005).

This adaptation supports the use of the instrument in Greek-speaking populations and related research contexts.

Applications

The IPQ-R-38 can be used in health psychology, clinical research, and studies involving chronic or acute illness.

It may be useful for examining relationships between illness perceptions and outcomes such as treatment adherence, health behavior, psychological adjustment, coping, and quality of life.

References

Anagnostopoulos, F., & Spanea, E. (2005). Assessing illness representation of breast cancer. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 58, 327–334.

Moss-Morris, R., Weinman, J., Petrie, K. J., Horne, R., Cameron, L. D., & Buick, D. (2002). The revised illness perception questionnaire (IPQ-R). Psychology & Health, 17, 1–16.

Vlavianou, M., Anagnostopoulos, F., Karyda, E., & Kalantzi-Azizi, A. (2005). Predictors of preventive behavior among healthy women regarding breast cancer. Psychologia, 12, 489–505.