Adaptação e validação do Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) em doentes oncológicos = The "Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire" (IPQ-R) adaptation and validation on cancer patientes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the psychometric properties of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) using a sample of cancer patients to, adapt and validat the questionnaire or evaluates the five components of the illness representation described in the Self-regulation Model of Behavior in Health. The IPQ-R was applied to 385 cancer patients with a variety of recent carcinoma (time of diagnosis 3 months) without known metastasis. The sample was essentially feminine, adult, married, active workers (or with clinical discharge) and in the initial treatment of the disease. The results indicate that IPQ-R is a reliable and valid instrument to evaluate the cognitive and emotional representation of cancer illness. We also suggest the substitution of some items to evaluate the identity of illness. From the Components Factor Analyse of the causality scale we extracted four factors, being the psychological attributions which better explains the variance of the answers. The correlation among the different dimensions of the scale was analyzed, confirming the theoretical bases of criterion in the study of the cancer illness. The IPQ-R shoed as a reliable, valid and sensitive instrument to explore the specific role of cancer illness perceptions on the adaptation process and health results. By facilitating the evaluation process we want to encourage the investigation on this yard.