Abstract
Background Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) refers to the propensity to become drowsy or fall
asleep when the intention and expectation would be to stay awake, and the Epworth
Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is an easy-to-apply instrument that can be used to assess the
presence of EDS.
Objective To evaluate the psychometric properties of the ESS, including its construct validity
and internal consistency, in a population of university students.
Methods Two samples of 400 students from the medicine program of a university located in
the Midwest of Brazil were randomly selected from a cross-sectional academic study
conducted in 2018. Construct validity was examined through exploratory and confirmatory
factor analysis of the eight items of the ESS, and the internal consistency was evaluated
using the Cronbach's α coefficient (α).
Results It was found that factor analyses revealed better adjustment measures when considering
the ESS to be two-dimensional, grouped into two main factors: the first factor referring
to the evaluation of sleepiness at rest, and the second referring to drowsiness in
activity (standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = 0.053; root mean square
error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.095; Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.937; and Tucker-Lewis
Index [TLI] = 0.908; p < 0.05). Moreover, the ESS presented an adequate internal consistency (α = 0.75).
Conclusion The present study showed general psychometric properties adequate for the ESS in
medical students, including an acceptable construct validity and internal consistency.
Thus, the ESS may be suitable to assess EDS in university students, especially medical
students.
Keywords
Disorders of Excessive Somnolence - Sleepiness - Epworth Sleepiness Scale - Students,
Medical
Bibliographical Record
Renato Canevari Dutra da Silva, Anderson Garcez, Adriana Vieira Macedo Brugnoli, Marcos
Pascoal Pattussi, Maria Teresa Anselmo Olinto. Psychometric properties of the Epworth
Sleepiness Scale in Brazilian medical students. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83: s00451804921.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804921
