Development of the Injury Perceptions Questionnaire (InjPQ)

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Health Sciences
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Injuries significantly contribute to morbidity and mortality.
• Understanding health condition self-regulation necessitates investigating injury perceptions.
• Existing measures may not fully capture injury-specific cognitive dimensions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Injury Perceptions Questionnaire (InjPQ).
• To assess the reliability and construct validity of the InjPQ.
• To explore the relationship between injury perceptions and various health outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A concurrent study involving 333 injured individuals.
• Factor analyses were used to explore the internal structure and reliability (Cronbach's α) of InjPQ sub-scales.
• Investigated relationships between injury perception dimensions, illness perception scales, and outcome measures (self-assessed health, functioning, mental health, life satisfaction).

Main Results:

• The InjPQ encompasses scales for injury identity, PTSD symptoms, injury event, emotions, self-image, consequences, responsibility, coping, time distance, dependency, healthy self, attributions, and risk factors.
• Adequate reliability and construct validity were found for the InjPQ scales.
• Injury perceptions uniquely contribute to explaining outcome variance beyond general illness perceptions.

Conclusions:

• Injury perceptions can be reliably measured using the InjPQ.
• The InjPQ captures cognitive dimensions specific to injury, offering added value over general illness perception scales.
• The InjPQ is recommended for research and clinical applications in assessing injury perceptions.