Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to adapt the Chronic Illness Adjustment Scale into Turkish and to evaluate its validity and reliability in assessing how individuals with chronic illnesses adjust to their condition. METHODS: This methodological study was conducted between July 2024 and July 2025, involving 518 chronic patients who visited the internal medicine outpatient clinic of a university hospital. Data were collected using the Personal Information Form and the Chronic Illness Adjustment Scale (CIAS). RESULTS: According to confirmatory factor analysis, the factor loadings of the scale ranged from 0.300 to 0.850, and a five-dimensional structure was confirmed. The scale’s fit indices were x² = 495.17, df = 140 (p < 0.05), x²/df = 3.53, RMSEA = 0.070, CFI = 0.94, SRMR = 0.057, TLI = 0.92, RMR = 0.044, and AIC = 652.03”. The overall Cronbach’s α coefficient of the scale was 0.80, and for the sub-dimensions, it ranged between 0.67 and 0.80. The validity and reliability of CIAS were proven without any changes to its original form. CONCLUSION: This study determined that the adapted CIAS consists of five subscales and 19 items, is compatible with Turkish culture, and is a valid and reliable scale. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12955-025-02465-w.