Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health

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Volume 4, Issue 4, December 2014, Pages 297 - 302

Validation of the Arabic version of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale

Authors
Anwar E. Ahmeda, Abdulhamid Fatanib, Abdullah Al-Harbic, Abdullah Al-Shimemeric, Yosra Z. Alia, Salim Baharoonc, Hamdan Al-Jahdalic, *, Jahdalih@gmail.com
aDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Saudi Arabia
bCollege of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Saudi Arabia
cDepartment of Medicine, Pulmonary Division, Sleep Disorders Center, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Saudi Arabia
*Corresponding author. Address: King Saud University for Health Sciences, Pulmonary Division, Sleep Disorders Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Tel.: +966 12520088x17597, 17531 (work), mobile: +966 505224271.
Corresponding Author
Hamdan Al-JahdaliJahdalih@gmail.com
Received 7 January 2014, Revised 19 April 2014, Accepted 23 April 2014, Available Online 2 July 2014.
DOI
10.1016/j.jegh.2014.04.004How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Epworth Sleepiness Scale; Daytime sleepiness; Sleep disorder
Abstract

Background: The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is a questionnaire widely used in developed countries to measure daytime sleepiness and diagnose sleep disorders.

Objective: This study aimed to develop an ESS questionnaire for the Arabic population (ArESS), to determine ArESS internal consistency, and to measure ArESS test–retest reproducibility. It also investigated whether the normal range of ESS scores of healthy people in different cultures are similar.

Methods: The original ESS questionnaire was translated from English to Arabic and back-translated to English. In both the English and Arabic translations of the survey, ESS consists of eight different situations. The subject was asked to rate the chance of dozing in each situation on a scale of 0–3 with total scores ranging between 0 (normal sleep) and 24 (very sleepy). An Arabic translation of the ESS questionnaire was administered to 90 healthy subjects.

Results: Item analysis revealed high internal consistency within ArESS questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.86 in the initial test, and 0.89 in the retest). The test–retest intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) shows that the test–retest reliability was substantially high: ICC = 0.86 (95% confidence interval: 0.789–0.909, p-value < 0.001). The difference in ArESS scores between the initial test and retest was not significantly different from zero (average difference = −0.19, t = −0.51, df = 89, p-value = 0.611). In this study, the averages of the ESS scores (6.3 ± 4.7, range 0–20 in the initial test and 6.5 ± 5.3, range 0–20 in the retest) are considered high in Western cultures.

Conclusions: The study shows that the ArESS is a valid and reliable tool that can be used in Arabic-speaking populations to measure daytime sleepiness. The current study has shown that the average ESS score of healthy Arabian subjects is significantly higher than in Western cultures.

Copyright
© 2014 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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<Previous Article In Issue
Next Article In Issue>
Journal
Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue
4 - 4
Pages
297 - 302
Publication Date
2014/07/02
ISSN (Online)
2210-6014
ISSN (Print)
2210-6006
DOI
10.1016/j.jegh.2014.04.004How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2014 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - JOUR
AU  - Anwar E. Ahmed
AU  - Abdulhamid Fatani
AU  - Abdullah Al-Harbi
AU  - Abdullah Al-Shimemeri
AU  - Yosra Z. Ali
AU  - Salim Baharoon
AU  - Hamdan Al-Jahdali
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2014/07/02
TI  - Validation of the Arabic version of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 297
EP  - 302
VL  - 4
IS  - 4
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2014.04.004
DO  - 10.1016/j.jegh.2014.04.004
ID  - Ahmed2014
ER  -