Psychometric properties of the revised illness perception questionnaire for people with alcohol use disorder in Portugal

ABSTRACT

Purpose

The revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) is an instrument used to evaluate illness perceptions. The IPQ-R uses components of Leventhal’s self-regulatory model of illness representation. It has been used broadly in different contexts and cultures, presenting variable psychometric properties. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Portuguese version of the IPQ-R in patients with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD).

Methods

Methodological study. The sample consisted of 304 inpatients with AUD. Data collection took place from February 2018 to January 2019. The validity and reliability of the instrument were evaluated using exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.

Results

Cronbach’s α values were consistently higher than 0.57. Factor analysis of the IPQ‐R items revealed that the Portuguese version reflects the original structure. The seven-factor construct explained 68.56% of the total variance.

Conclusion

The IPQ-R showed statistically satisfactory levels of reliability and validity. In psychiatric and mental health nursing, the use of the IPQ-R can be suggested for planning personalized care, which involves recognizing and addressing illness perceptions among people with AUD. Further work is needed to develop the confirmatory factor analysis of the IPQ-R.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol
• mental health
• illness perception
• psychometric properties

Author´s contributions

Carlos Laranjeira and Ana Querido carried out the literature search, which was verified by Olga Valentim. Olga Valentim carried out the data analysis. Carlos Laranjeira and Ana Querido carried out the article writing. Olga Valentim was responsible for the research supervision and for the article examination.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors declared no support that facilitated conduct of the work described in the article.