Clinimetric properties of illness perception questionnaire revised (IPQ-R) and brief illness perception questionnaire (Brief IPQ) in patients with musculoskeletal disorders: A systematic review

Abstract

Several questionnaires are available to evaluate illness perceptions in patients, such as the illness perception questionnaire revised (IPQ-R) and the brief version (Brief IPQ). This study aims to systematically review the literature concerning the clinimetric properties of the IPQ-R and the Brief IPQ in patients with musculoskeletal pain. The electronic databases Web of Sciences and PubMed were searched. Studies were included when the clinimetric properties of the IPQ-R or Brief IPQ were assessed in adults with musculoskeletal pain. Methodological quality was determined using the COSMIN checklist. Eight articles were included and evaluated. The methodological quality was good for 3 COSMIN boxes, fair for 11 and poor for 3 boxes. None of the articles obtained an excellent methodological score. The results of this review suggest that the IPQ-R is a reliable questionnaire, except for illness coherence. Internal consistency is good, except for the causal domain. The IPQ-R has good construct validity, but the factor structure is unstable. Hence, the IPQ-R appears to be a useful instrument for assessing illness perceptions, but care must be taken when generalizing the results of adapted versions of the questionnaires. The Brief IPQ shows moderate overall test-retest reliability. No articles examining the validity of the Brief IPQ were found. Further research should therefore focus on the content and criterion validity of the IPQ-R and the clinimetric properties of the Brief IPQ.

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

“…This was supported by Bland-Altman plots which indicated systematic change in treatment control beliefs which may have increased as an artefact of participating in the study, or because patients sought a better understanding of AF with upcoming procedures. A systematic review of the IPQ-R used in musculoskeletal disorders also found moderate test-retest reliability and suggested that in illnesses where symptoms fluctuate, illness representations may not remain stable (Leysen et al, 2015). Emotional representations was the most stable construct, as found in previous research examining internal reliability of the IPQ-R (Moon et al, 2017), and may indicate emotional representations about AF are more stable than cognitive representations.…”

Análise Fatorial Exploratória do Questionário de Percepção de Doenças Versão Breve (Brief IPQ)

“…Investigações conduzidas com o IPQ original evidenciaram cargas fatoriais inferiores ao desejável em relação à dimensão temporal, sendo ressaltada a necessidade do aumento no número de itens para avaliá-la (Moss-Morris et al, 2002). Em estudos que avaliaram a confiabilidade teste-reteste do Brief IPQ, a dimensão temporal foi o item que apresentou o índice de correlação mais baixo (0,35) em comparação com os outros itens da escala (0,50 a 0,87), sendo assim o menos confiável (Leysen et al, 2015). Assim, são necessárias pesquisas que avaliem eventuais reestruturações na dimensão da temporalidade, já que esta não tem se mostrado satisfatória do ponto de vista empírico.…”

“…O Brief IPQ apresentou confiabilidade teste-reteste moderada em uma revisão sistemática de literatura que buscou identificar estudos sobre suas propriedades psicométricas em amostras de pessoas com desordens musculoesqueléticas (Leysen et al, 2015). Já um estudo norueguês encontrou evidências da validade e confiabilidade do Brief IPQ em pacientes com dor lombar crônica e aguda (Løchting, Garratt, Storheim, Werner, & Grotle, 2013), no qual a consistência interna foi considerada satisfatória (α = 0,72).…”

Measurement properties of the Illness Perception Questionnaire in practitioners working with patients with co-morbid schizophrenia and learning disability

“…Evaluation of the measurement characteristics of the IPQ has been extensive and led directly to the development of a revised version of the tool, the IPQ-Revised (IPQ-R), which has demonstrated improved psychometric properties [19]. The original IPQ and the IPQ-R have been applied to a broad range of disease and the pre-eminence of the tool within clinical research to evaluate patient illness perceptions has led to the measure being the instrument of choice for clinical research and practice [20,21].…”

“…Evaluation of the measurement properties of the IPQ/IPQ-R The internal consistency of the IPQ has been reported in a number of studies as support for the measurement validity of the scale, measures of Cronbach's coefficient alpha being generally satisfactory, though not always across all of the subscales [5,20,23]. The utility of Cronbach's alpha as a singular index of instrument measurement fidelity is limited both theoretically, for example, (high) internal consistency does not equate to instrument unidimensionality [28][29][30][31] and also from a measurement perspective in that Cronbach's alpha is a lower-bound measure of instrument reliability and may significantly underestimate the reliability of a scale [30,32,33].…”