Suffering Quantified? Feasibility and Psychometric Characteristics of 2 Revised Versions of the Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure (PRISM)

Abstract

The Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure (PRISM) assesses suffering. In this article, the authors explored the feasibility and psychometric qualities of 2 revised versions of the PRISM-PRISM-R1 and PRISM-R2-that they used in 3 studies of participants with different medical problems. The results showed significant differences between the patient groups in suffering as measured with the revised PRISMs. In addition, the revised PRISMs appeared to be sensitive to change in the predicted direction after an intervention. Last, the 2 measures of the revised PRISM seemed to indicate different aspects of suffering. These findings yield preliminary support for the feasibility and validity of the PRISM-R2.

Setting Overweight Adults in Motion: The Role of Health Beliefs

“…A smaller distance between the centers of the 'self' and medical problem disks (SIS = Self-Illness Separation) indicates more suf-Wouters/van Nunen/Vingerhoets/Geenen fering, and is considered as a 'cue to action' in the health belief model. The feasibility and validity of the variables assessed by the PRISM-R2 in measuring aspects of suffering in obesity have been supported [41].…”

“…Suffering and perceived medical problem were measured with the Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure, 2nd revision (PRISM-R2) [40,41]. The PRISM-R2 consists of a rectangular (A4) sheet of paper, with a large (diameter 186 mm) circle depicting the persons life environment, with a yellow disk in the middle (diameter 52 mm), representing the person's 'self', and three differently sized (35,52 or 65 mm) separately provided auto-adhesive disks representing the medical problem (in this study overweight or obesity).…”

Medication Adherence in a Sample of Elderly Suffering from Hypertension: Evaluating the Influence of Illness Perceptions, Treatment Beliefs, and Illness Burden

“…30 PRISMRevised II (PRISM-RII) was used in this study to assess perceived burden due to hypertension in the study participants. The PRISM-RII 31 consists of a large white circle, representing the participant's "life," with a yellow disk placed in the middle…”

Posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in the Gambia

“…To determine the Self-Illness Separation (SIS), the distance between the centres of the self and the illness disks was measured, yielding a number between 0 and 93 mm. The PRISM has been proven to be a valid measure of IP in several patient groups, and to correlate with various subjective indices of well-being or distress (Buchi et al, 2002;Wouters et al, 2008).…”

“…IP was measured by the Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure revised (PRISM-RII) (Wouters, Reimus, van Nunen, Blokhorst, & Vingerhoets, 2008). Participants were given a plain A4 sheet with a large circle positioned on it (186 mm in diameter).…”