Sleep evaluation scales and questionnaires: a review

Introduction. Whenever a new scale is created or translated
from another language, it must be validated, establishing its
reliability for the new population where it will be used. Sleep
quality concept is a construct that can be evaluated using selfreport
scales. Resulting elements vary depending on the individuals
surveyed. This type of evaluation is mainly subjective and
includes quantitative aspects such as sleep duration, number of
awakenings, latency time, and qualitative aspects such as rest
sensation, mood and oneiric content (Valencia, 2000). In the
present study we made a critical review of the sleep scales
designed for child, adolescent and adult populations that have
been validated and the difficulties they might present.
Methodology. Between September 2005 and May 2006
a bibliographical search was made within pubmed, ovid, and
the data base of the periodical and book library of the Ramón
de la Fuente Muñiz National Institute of Psychiatry, using and
combining the following key words: sleep, sleep questionnaire,
sleep scale, sleep inventory, adolescent, adolescent sleep
scale. The most relevant papers to our study were selected.
The search was limited to Spanish and English articles, although
there was no year or geographical origin limit. Articles
that did not include clinimetrical data where excluded.
Conclusions. Based on our bibliographical search and
our discussion, we suggested the design and validation of a
Spanish scale to evaluate adolescent population which
avoids a time interval between awakening and the answering
of the instrument in order to decrease recall bias.