Psychometric properties of a Thai version of the Richards-Campbell sleep questionnaire

In critically ill patients, a poor sleep quality can escalate mortality and the length of hospital stays. Albeit being the gold standard for sleep assessment, polysomnography (PSG) is expensive and complicated. The Richards-Campbell sleep questionnaire (RCSQ) is another tool with proof of good correlation with PSG. RCSQ was translated into many languages. However, the Thai version (T-RCSQ) has not been developed.

Our study aimed to translate the original RCSQ into Thai, to test the content validity and reliability, and to introduce the questionnaire into clinical practice at the surgical intensive care unit (SICU).

Prospective cross-sectional study METHODS: This study enrolled 92 patients from the SICU between August 2019 and January 2020. The content validity of T-RCSQ was determined by the index of item-objective congruence (IOC). The reliability was tested by test-retest reliability at 7 am and 9 am after intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The internal consistency was expressed by Cronbach's alpha. Patients' demography was reported as percentage, mean and standard deviation, and median and interquartile range.

The content validity and test-retest reliability of the T-RCSQ were 0.8 and 0.97, respectively. The internal consistency was 0.964. Most patients were female with American Society of Anesthesiologist physical status III. The mean RCSQ scores at 7 am and 9 am were 5.82 ± 2.15 cm and 5.61 ± 2.18 cm, respectively.

The T-RCSQ is reliable and could be used as an alternative to PSG for sleep assessment of ICU patients. Further research is required to validate the T-RCSQ against PSG and to assess its impact on improving sleep quality and patients' clinical outcomes.

T-RCSQ is a useful tool for sleep assessment in ICU. According to cost-effectiveness, convenience, and good reliability, it could be applied to determine proper sleep to minimize patient morbidity and mortality.