Different types of sleep scales are used to evaluate sleepiness, including those that address daytime sleepiness, disease-specific scales, and age-specific scales. The Stanford Sleepiness Scale and Epworth Sleepiness Scale measure daytime sleepiness, while the Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale attempts to find the cause of sleepiness. Parkinson’s patients have their own specific scales, and there are also scales for children.
There are several types of sleep scales used. One type of sleep scale evaluates a person’s average level of sleepiness in daily life. Another type of sleep scale addresses daytime sleepiness, but also an individual’s ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, among other factors. A third class of sleep scales are disease-specific, such as those developed for Parkinson’s patients. Another type of sleep scale is age-specific, such as a scale developed for children.
The Stanford Sleepiness Scale and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale were both designed to measure daytime sleepiness. The scales are short and responses to items are self-reported. The Stanford scale looks at a person’s level of alertness at different times of the day. It can be helpful to identify people’s circadian rhythms, including what are the peak alert hours. The Epworth scale provides a list of daily activities and asks participants to rate the likelihood of falling asleep during these activities.
Neither the Stanford scale nor the Epworth scale attempt to determine what causes sleepiness in patients. One sleep scale that attempts to find the cause is the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) sleep scale. The MOS scale addresses daytime sleepiness. It also looks at a person’s ability to stay and fall asleep, how often they sleep and for how long, whether the sleep they are getting is appropriate for their lifestyle, and any existing respiratory factors that can affect sleep such as sleep apnea.
Insomnia and hypersomnia are both common complaints of people with Parkinson’s disease. The Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS) is a bedside visual screening tool used to identify nocturnal causes of poor sleep. The Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson’s Disease (SCOPA-Sleep) is a self-report tool used to assess nocturnal sleep and daytime sleepiness. Other scales have been developed for people with mental health problems or narcolepsy, or who use different types of sleep-promoting medications.
People of different ages will have different daily activities and different factors that can affect their ability to sleep or daytime sleepiness. The Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale focuses on children of school age and older. It asks eight questions that rate how often sleepiness affects children during a routine day. There are also scales that use pictures for younger children to self-report their levels of sleepiness.
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