Maria K. Bougia1, Nikolaos-Tiberios Oikonomou1, Maria Ntafouli1, Ioannis Ilias2, Konstantinos Gourgoulianis3, Emmanouil Vagiakis4, Paschalis Steiropoulos1
Background: Sleep, as an active biological function with particular structure, is important for well-being and body function. Quality of sleep is a multidimensional concept that includes various factors such as the time of occurrence, its total duration, and the perceived degree of adequacy. The Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Sleep Scale is a self-referential sleep scale consisting of 12 items that evaluate important sleep parameters such as the latency of sleep onset time, respiratory disorders, the amount and adequacy of sleep as they are perceived by the individual, as well as daytime sleepiness. Aim of the study was to investigate the reliability of the MOS Sleep Scale in Greek patients with sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD), and its validation in the Greek population.
Methods: Fifty-one patients (37 males, 14 females; mean age 53±12 years) with SRBD confirmed by polysomnography and 49 healthy controls (23 males, 26 females, mean age 43±12 years) without SRBD, filled the Greek version of the MOS Sleep Scale questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done by calculating its internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha.
Results: Cronbach’s alpha for the MOS subcategories in the test sample was 0.82 to 0.88, which is considered to be very satisfactory. Patients with respiratory disorders had fewer sleep hours, episodes of daytime sleepiness, delayed sleep onset and reduced sleep adequacy (p<0.05).
Conclusions: Patients with SRBD have poorer sleep. The MOS Sleep Scale in patients with SRBD in the Greek population showed very satisfactory reliability. Therefore, the MOS Sleep Scale can be a useful assessment tool.
