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Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ)3

Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) Test

Understand how someone views a chronic condition and how stressful it feels in about 2 minutes. Eight quick items deliver a clear snapshot to guide personalized care and research.

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Questions: 82 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

16,922 views

1,613 completions

1,415 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

13/30

Perceived Illness and Treatment Control (PIaTC)

Assesses how strongly a person believes they can understand and control their illness and that treatment can effectively manage it.

Low controllability

Moderate controllability

High controllability

0 – 10: Low controllability | 11 – 20: Moderate controllability | 21 – 30: High controllability

A score of 13 indicates a moderate sense of controllability, suggesting some confidence in understanding and managing the condition and its treatment, alongside notable uncertainty.

example score

27/50

Perceived Life-Threatening Nature of Illness (PLTNoI)

Measures how strongly a person perceives their illness as life-threatening, including perceived consequences, duration, symptoms, concern, and emotional impact.

Low threat

Moderate threat

High threat

0 – 16: Low threat | 17 – 33: Moderate threat | 34 – 50: High threat

A score of 27 falls in the Moderate threat range, suggesting a noticeable but not extreme sense of illness-related danger and emotional strain.

example score

54/80

Overall Illness Threat (OIT)

Measures the overall perceived threat and emotional burden associated with the illness as a cumulative indicator.

Low threat

Moderate threat

High threat

0 – 26: Low threat | 27 – 53: Moderate threat | 54 – 80: High threat

A score of 54 falls in the High threat range, suggesting a heightened perception of danger and worry related to the illness.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

People with chronic conditions

44%OF USERS

They take it to understand how their illness affects daily life, emotions, and sense of control.

Patients starting new treatment

31%OF USERS

They use it to quickly gauge worry, perceived threat, and expectations before or during a change in care.

Researchers and clinicians

25%OF USERS

They administer it as a fast snapshot of illness perceptions to guide support and track outcomes over time.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Perceived controllability of the illness and treatment (Pcotiat)

Average

Normal range

14.3 — 21.8

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Perception of Life-Threatening Illness (PoLI)

Average

27.9

Normal range

21.7 — 34.2

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Overall Disease Threat Level (ODTL)

Average

23.1

Normal range

8.2 — 38

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- 0: does not affect my life at all
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10: affects my life extremely
- 0: a very short time
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10: forever
- 0: I have absolutely no control
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10: I have complete control

These are 3 of the 8 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) Test - Symptoms and Signs

attitude towards illness

In clinical work with chronic health conditions, it can be helpful to clarify how a patient understands and emotionally responds to their illness. The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) is a brief self-report measure designed to assess core cognitive and emotional representations of illness and related distress.

The measure includes 8 items and typically requires about 2 minutes to complete. Items assess perceived consequences, timeline, personal and treatment control, symptom identity, concern, coherence (understanding), and emotional response; results can support case formulation and help guide discussion of illness-related beliefs and coping. Elaine A. Wethington is cited as the author.

The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) is commonly used in medical and behavioral health settings as a rapid screening tool and as an outcome measure in research, with interpretation generally considered in conjunction with clinical context and other assessment data.

Author: Elaine A. Wethington, Howard Leventhal

Literature: Leventhal, H., Meyer, D., & Nerenz, D. The common sense representation of illness danger. In Rachman, S. (Ed.), Medical psychology. Pergamon Press. 1980.; Broadbent, E., Petrie, K. J., Main, J., & Weinman, J. The brief illness perception questionnaire. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2006.