Adapting the acceptance of illness scale for Sinhala-speaking populations: a psychometric study.

BACKGROUND

Acceptance of illness is an important psychological process that influences how individuals adapt to the challenges and limitations associated with chronic diseases. Greater illness acceptance has been associated with better psychological adjustment, improved coping, and enhanced wellbeing among individuals living with chronic conditions. The Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) is widely used to assess individuals' psychological adaptation to chronic disease. However, a validated Sinhala version has not been available, limiting its use in Sri Lanka. This study aimed to culturally adapt and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Sinhala version of the AIS among individuals living with chronic illnesses.

METHODS

The original AIS was translated into Sinhalese using the back-translation process. Data were collected from 141 adults (63.1% women) who self-identified as people with chronic diseases, spoke Sinhala, and were living in Sri Lanka. Principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to evaluate the scale's dimensional structure. Cronbach's α was used to assess internal consistency, and r Pearson correlations with measures of life satisfaction and depression were employed to examine convergent validity.

RESULTS

The Sinhala AIS demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.75). PCA supported a single-component structure consistent with the original version, explaining 52.66% of the total variance. Subsequent CFA conducted on the same sample provided partial support for the one-factor structure (CFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.99, SRMR = 0.06, RMSEA = 0.097). Acceptance of illness was positively correlated with life satisfaction (r = 0.253) and negatively correlated with depression (r = -0.336), providing preliminary evidence for construct validity.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide preliminary support for the reliability and construct validity of the Sinhala AIS among Sinhala-speaking adults with chronic diseases and encourage further research on its psychometric properties and applicability in diverse clinical populations. The scale may be a useful tool for research and potentially for clinical applications; however, further validation is recommended.