Epworth Sleepiness Scale

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale quantitfies the level of daytime sleepiness. A score of 10 or more is considered sleepy. A score of 18 or more is very sleepy.

Use the following scale to choose the most appropriate number for each situation:

0 — no chance of nodding off
1 — slight chance of dozing
2 — moderate chance of sleeping
3 — high chance of falling asleep

Situations:

• Chance of Dozing or Sleeping
• Sitting and reading
• Watching TV
• Sitting inactive in a public place
• Being a passenger in a motor vehicle for an hour or more
• Lying down in the afternoon
• Sitting and talking to someone
• Sitting quietly after lunch (no alcohol)
• Stopped for a few minutes in traffic
  while driving
  

(It's called the Epworth scale after Epworth Hospital in Melbourne, where is was developed.)

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

In the late 1980s doctors at the University of Pittsburgh medical school devised an index to help diagnose and evaluate sleep quality. Dubbed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) this self-rated questionnaire looks at sleep quality and disturbances over a one-month interval. The results give numbers in seven categories: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction These numbers can be useful to psychiatrists and other doctors in calling out the nuances of the patient’s sleep disorders and patterns.

Thanks to a Sleepdex reader we have found the PSQI online: this two-page PDF shows the questions used to develop the score.

A recent study published in the journal Sleep showed that Epworth and PSQI scores tend to be stable when participants took the test over different times. The stability of the scores suggests that these scales have validity.

Sleep Disorders

Dyssomnias

Parsomnias

"It’s been a hard day’s night
I’ve been workin´ like a dog
It’s been a hard day’s night
And I’ll be sleepin´ like a log…. "

(John Lennon and Paul McCartney)