Rationale, aims and objectives: The widely-used Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ) adapted for use in patients with major mental health problems and those who care and work with them, was originally developed for evaluating the illness perceptions of patients with physical pathology. There have been concerns expressed regarding the appropriateness of the IPQ and derivative measures of it in axis I disorders such as schizophrenia. The current investigation examined the measurement characteristics of a modified version of the IPQ in mental health practitioners working with patients with schizophrenia co-morbid with learning disability. Method: Two hundred and ten mental health practitioners working with patients with schizophrenia co-morbid with learning disability participated in the study. Contemporary models of the measurement structure of the IPQ were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. The internal reliability of the IPQ was also evaluated. Results: Single factor, 5-factor and 6-factor models were evaluated against data. All models were found to offer a poor fit to the data. The internal reliability of the measure was also found to be unsatisfactory overall. Conclusions: Consistent with one previous study that has found poor measurement characteristics of the IPQ when used in the context of schizophrenia, the current study found the measure to be a poorly performing index of illness perceptions. Echoing previous observations of the use of this tool in axis I disorder, it is recommended that a new measure of illness perceptions be developed using contemporary research methodology sensitive to the context of psychotic illness in order to provide a more effective tool for the provision of person-centered psychiatry and healthcare.
Accessible summary What is known about the subject? • People with learning disability are more likely than the general population to develop schizophrenia. • Personal recovery philosophies are based on positive attitudes and an optimism that recognizes and values people and their strengths and capacity to achieve goals. • Little is known from previous studies about the illness perceptions of learning disability practitioners who work with people that experience both a learning disability and schizophrenia. • The illness beliefs of learning disability practitioners about schizophrenia may mediate the potential for social exclusion and limit recovery outcomes. What this study/paper adds to existing knowledge? • The findings show that the illness beliefs of learning disability practitioners and support workers regarding schizophrenia are pessimistic in terms of the consequences for people with schizophrenia and learning disability and their relatives as well as the chronic course of the illness. What are the implications for clinical practice? • This study identifies the nature of LD practitioner perceptions about schizophre-nia and provides guidance about how personal recovery philosophies can be applied to the management of LD and schizophrenia. • The beliefs of learning disability practitioners and support workers regarding schizophrenia need to be reframed to support better recovery outcomes and social inclusion for this group. • The findings from this study can inform the development of training in biopsy -cho-social models of schizophrenia, recovery approaches, family/carer interventions , clinical supervision, mentorship and reflection on clinical practice, which could be potentially useful strategies to help facilitate a reframing of beliefs. Abstract Background and purpose of study: The prevalence of schizophrenia in people with learning disability is 3-4%. This is the first study to investigate the illness perceptions of learning disability (LD) practitioners towards people with schizophre-nia. Methods: Learning disability practitioners (n = 210) that work with people with LD and schizophrenia completed a modified version of the Illness Perception Questionnaire Schizophrenia Carers Version (IPQ-SCV). Descriptive and correla-tional analyses were conducted for all of the IPQ-SCV subscales. Results: A significant positive correlation was found between consequences relative and consequences
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