A content validity and cognitive interview process to evaluate an Illness Perception Questionnaire for African Americans with type 2 diabetes.

Forty-four new survey items were added to the IPQ. Twenty-nine of the forty-four items were determined as the appropriate number of questions to be tested because of time, and to reduce respondent burden. After the first round of interviews, an item-by-item review of the new items identified problems related to AA comprehension of certain items, their applicability, and wording/tone. Five items identified as problematic were related to AAs understanding of a cure for diabetes, their perception of how food influences their diabetes, how their identity as AAs influence diabetes control, and the dialogue about diabetes within their families and/or community. Findings support the newly developed illness perception questions as culturally specific to AAs with diabetes after being tested for content validity and participant understanding using cognitive interviews.