Adaptation and psychometric testing of the Chinese version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire for cervical cancer patients.

Abstract

Illness perception is an important factor that influences psychological distress, coping behaviors, and illness outcomes, and this factor is often assessed by the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Data regarding illness perception among cervical cancer patients are limited, especially in China. The study aimed to adapt and psychometrically test the Chinese version of the IPQ-R for Cervical Cancer (CIPQ-R-CC). This was a methodological study. Before the survey, the identity and causal subscales (originally 14 and 18 items, respectively) were adapted. Data were collected from 220 cervical cancer patients (N=220) from June 2018 to February 2019. Psychometric properties were assessed using explanatory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, one-way analysis of variance, t-tests and Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Eight identity items and twenty-six causal items were included in the CIPQ-R-CC, which showed acceptable content validity (I-CVI=0.78-1.00, S-CVI=0.97-0.99). A five-factor solution was obtained from the cause subscale by explanatory factor analysis, and these factors explained 60.19% of the total variance. For Part III of the CIPQ-R-CC, after deleting nine items and respecifying five error covariances, the proposed seven-factor model was confirmed. There were low to moderate correlations between the latent factors (r＜0.52). Known-group validity was demonstrated in some groups with different demographic characteristics. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients were also acceptable (0.60-0.88). The CIPQ-R-CC is a reliable and valid tool for assessing illness perception among Chinese cervical cancer patients. Future studies are needed to verify its factor structure and to confirm its theoretical connotation.