A global measure of sickness behaviour: Development of the Sickness Questionnaire

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.

Keywords: Sickness Questionnaire; endotoxin; sickness behaviour; sickness response; validation.