Psychology RootsSickness Impact Profile
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About Sickness Impact Profile
Scale Name
Sickness Impact Profile
Author Details
Marilyn Bergner
Translation Availability
English
Background/Description
The Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) is a comprehensive, behaviorally-based instrument designed to assess the impact of sickness on an individual’s daily activities and functioning. Developed by Marilyn Bergner and colleagues in the 1970s, the SIP provides an index of health-related dysfunction, capturing both physical and psychosocial dimensions of health status. It was specifically created for broad applicability in clinical settings, health surveys, program evaluation, and policy planning. By measuring changes in an individual’s behavior attributable to sickness rather than focusing on specific medical conditions, the SIP offers a robust and objective tool for assessing quality of life and outcomes of care.
The SIP evolved through extensive field trials and qualitative research, beginning with over 300 behavior statements derived from interviews with both healthy and ill individuals, health professionals, and a literature review. The final version contains 136 items grouped into 12 categories reflecting three main dimensions of functioning: Physical (Ambulation, Mobility, Body Care and Movement), Psychosocial (Communication, Alertness Behavior, Emotional Behavior, Social Interaction), and Independent Categories (Sleep and Rest, Eating, Work, Home Management, Recreation and Pastimes). Respondents select items that describe their current health-related limitations, which are weighted to reflect the severity of impairment. The SIP thus provides an overall percent score as well as subscale scores for each dimension, facilitating detailed evaluation of health-related functional status.
Administration, Scoring and Interpretation
- Obtain an official copy of the SIP instrument from authorized sources such as the user’s manual or published appendices.
- Explain the purpose of the SIP to the respondent, clarifying that it measures changes in daily activities and behaviors related to health status rather than specific medical conditions.
- Provide clear instructions for marking items that apply to the respondent on the given day; ensure the respondent understands they should only select statements related to their health.
- Administration typically takes 20–30 minutes when self-administered or interviewer-administered; scoring requires an additional 5–10 minutes.
- Administer the scale by checking off the statements applicable to the respondent, then compute SIP percent scores using the provided scoring key and item weights.
Reliability and Validity
The SIP has demonstrated high internal consistency across its subscales, with coefficients typically exceeding 0.90 for the overall score. Test-retest reliability studies indicate stable performance over time, and the SIP’s scoring system, based on equal-appearing interval scaling, has been validated through extensive psychometric evaluation.
Validity evidence includes strong correlations with other established measures of health status and quality of life, as well as its sensitivity to changes over time and across diverse patient populations. Studies have also examined differences between self-report and proxy ratings, showing that proxies often rate impairment as more severe than self-reports, which underscores the SIP’s sensitivity to respondent perspective.
Available Versions
136-Items
Reference
Bergner, M., Bobbitt, R. A., Carter, W. B., & Gilson, B. S. (1981). The Sickness Impact Profile: development and final revision of a health status measure. Medical care, 787-805.
Important Link
Scale File:
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does the Sickness Impact Profile measure?
It measures changes in daily activities and behaviors caused by sickness, capturing physical, psychosocial, and independent dimensions of health.
Q: How long does it take to complete the SIP?
It typically takes 20–30 minutes to complete and 5–10 minutes to score.
Q: Can the SIP be administered by phone?
Research suggests the physical dimension may be feasible for telephone administration in frail patients, but full validation for remote administration is limited.
Q: Does the SIP measure specific diseases?
No, it measures the impact of sickness on functioning regardless of specific medical conditions.
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