An illness-specific version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF IPQ-R): Unpacking beliefs about treatment control, personal control and symptom triggers

Abstract

Objective: This study modified the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Design: Qualitative interviews and think-aloud techniques informed modification of the IPQ-R to be specific to AF patients. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) (n = 198) examined the validity of the modified IPQ-R (AF-IPQ-R). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) examined the new AF-triggers scale. Construct validity examined associations between the AF-IPQ-R, quality of life (QoL) and beliefs about medicines. Test-retest and internal reliability were examined. Results: Interviews indicated that patients viewed triggers of AF rather than initial causes of illness as more applicable. Patients believed specific behaviours such as rest could control AF. Treatment control beliefs related to pharmacological and procedural treatments. These data were used to modify the IPQ-R subscales and to develop a triggers of AF scale. CFA indicated good model fit. EFA of the triggers scale indicated three factors: emotional; health behaviours; and over-exertion triggers. Expected correlations were found between the AF-IPQ-R, QoL and treatment beliefs, evidencing good construct validity. Conclusion: The AF-IPQ-R showed sound psychometric properties. It provides more detailed specification than the IPQ-R of beliefs that may help to understand poor QoL in AF patients, and guidance for future interventions in this area.

To Get Vaccinated, or Not to Get Vaccinated, That Is the Question: Illness Representations about COVID-19 and Perceptions about COVID-19 Vaccination as Predictors of COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness among Young Adults in The Netherlands

“…In line with the expectations based on Horne’s [ 27 ] assumption and previous results [ 47 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ], all illness representation dimensions except for timeline were significantly related to perceptions of the necessity of COVID-19 vaccination. The pattern of the bivariate associations suggests that negative illness representations in terms of illness seriousness and emotional impact as well as positive illness representations in terms of treatment control and prevention control go together with the perception of a personal need for COVID-19 vaccination.…”

“…Empirical studies indeed showed that perceptions of severe symptoms, a long duration, and many adverse consequences stimulate perceptions of necessity. Additionally, it was found that stronger perceptions of the effectiveness of the pharmaceutical in controlling the illness or its onset, stronger emotional representations, and a better understanding of the illness are related to stronger necessity perceptions [ 47 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ]. On the other hand, concerns about a specific pharmaceutical are not likely to be influenced by illness representations, but are rather informed by general beliefs about the nature of medicines or by past experiences with particular medicines than by illness representations [ 27 ].…”

The Common Sense Model of Illness Self-Regulation: A Conceptual Review and Proposed Extended Model

“…A further important development of the IPQ-R inventory is the introduction of a measure of emotional representations, which captures individuals' beliefs that thinking about the illness is associated with negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, depression, and worry 1 . The questionnaire provides a sample of generic questions that might be employed to assess relevant dimensions, but also encourages researchers to modify these to specific disease-relevant content related to the identity, cause, timeline, consequences, coherence, and control dimensions derived from pilot work, extant literature, and medical knowledge (French & Weinman, 2008;Moss-Morris et al, 2002;Taylor et al, 2018;Weinman et al, 2018).…”

The Relationship Between Illness Perception and Difficulty in Emotion Regulation with the Mediating Role of Quality of Marital Life in Women With Breast Cancer

“…The revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) was developed by Moss-Morris et al in 2002 [11]. It includes 44 items and measures 7 subscales of the timeline (acute/chronic), timeline (cyclical), consequences, personal control, treatment control, illness coherence, and emotional representation.…”