Sviluppo della versione italiana del Brief-IPQ, strumento psicometrico per lo studio delle rappresentazioni di malattia

The Leventhal’s Common Sense Model of Illness Representation suggests that facing symptoms everyone develops a cognitive and emotional representation that determinates his coping strategies. The dimensions of the Illness Perception identified by Leventhal have been measured with qualitative methods and also with self-report questionnaires as the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ), the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R) and the recently Brief-IPQ. This study aims to develop the Italian version of the Brief-IPQ, a 9 item scale for rapid evaluation of cognitive and emotional illness perceptions. 500 patients, affected by chronic illnesses, have been recruited in different hospitals and medical centres in Piemonte. The illness perception have been assessed by Brief-IPQ, IPQ-R; quality of life by SF-36; Anxiety and depression by HADS. The results showed significant correlations between Brief-IPQ item and IPQ-R subscales. The discriminant validity of the Brief-IPQ was supported by its ability to distinguish between different illnesses. The Brief-IPQ a rapid questionnaire, that could be particularly helpful in the studies of Illness Perception.