Abstract
Symptoms after inflammatory activation, so-called sickness behaviour, overlap with trans-diagnostic complaints. As no self-report questionnaire to assess sickness behaviour exists, we aimed to develop such an instrument, the Sickness Questionnaire. Items responsive to experimentally induced inflammatory activation (randomized double-blind study endotoxin (0.6 ng/kg) versus placebo, n = 52) were selected and the statistical properties were examined in 172 primary care patients. A principal component analysis indicated a one-factor solution (Cronbach's alpha = .86). This 10-item scale correlated with depression (β = .41, p < .001), anxiety (β = .36, p < .001), self-rated health (β = .28, p < .001) and a single item of feeling sick (β = .55, p < .001). The results support the adequacy of Sickness Questionnaire as a brief assessment instrument of perceived sickness behaviour.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1452-1463 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of Health Psychology |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 11 |
Early online date | 24 Jul 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- endotoxin
- sickness behaviour
- Sickness Questionnaire
- sickness response
- validation