%0 Journal Article
%T Investigating the factor structure of the Illness Perception Questionnaire-revised for substance dependence among injecting drug users in China.
%A Mo PK
%A Lau JT
%A Cheng KM
%A Mak WW
%A Gu J
%A Wu AM
%A Li J
%J Drug Alcohol Depend
%V 148
%N 0
%D Mar 2015 1
%M 25649986
%F 4.852
%R 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.01.008
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>The Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R) has commonly been used to measure illness representations of various diseases. The present study examined whether the original factor structure of the IPQ-R could be confirmed or a new structure could be established on substance dependence among injecting drug users (IDU) in China.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>A total of 257 IDU completed the 38-item IPQ-R on substance dependence.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the 7-factor structure as proposed by the original IPQ-R reported poor goodness-of-fit statistics. Although removal of 12 items improved the model fit, the goodness-of-fit statistics were still below acceptable standards. Furthermore, factors obtained from the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the IPQ-R were not interpretable.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>The CFA found that the original IPQ-R factor structure fit the data poorly. Factors derived from EFA were also not interpretable. Use of the IPQ-R for assessment of illness representations of substance dependence among IDU in China is cautioned until further validation.