Development of questionnaires to assess health beliefs in OCD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of questionnaires to measure illness perceptions in people with OCD and their close family members and friends (IPQ-O and IPQ-OF)
IRAS ID
182126
Contact name
Rebecca Pedley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 17 days
Research summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is ranked within the top 10 most disabling disorders by the World Health Organisation, causing significant loss of income and reduced quality of life to sufferers. It affects approximately 1-3% of the the population. Research has shown that family members of people with OCD also experience significant burden and distress as a result of the disorder. Family members of people with OCD can be drawn into assisting their relative with their repetitive rituals and may change their daily routine in order to ’accommodate’ their relative’s OCD symptoms.
Research has shown that the way in which people understand their physical and mental health problems (sometimes known as their ’health beliefs’ ) can influence the way that people cope with the health problem. However little research has studied the way in which people with OCD and their relatives understand the mental health problem.
The present study leads on from a previous qualitative study which is part of a programme of work about how health beliefs in OCD. The previous study used qualitative methods to identify and characterise health beliefs in people with OCD and their relatives. Findings from this study have been used to modify the illness perceptions questionnaire-revised (IPQ-R); a measure that has been widely used to assess health beliefs about physical health conditions. The resulting two new measures are titled the IPQ-O (for people with OCD) and the IPQ-OF (for close family members and friends). The present study aims to test the validity and reliability of the two new measures. It also seeks to test whether health beliefs can predict how people with OCD and their close family members and friends cope with OCD, for example, we will test whether health beliefs predict whether a person seeks help for their symptoms.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0050
Date of REC Opinion
15 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion