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Updated: Oct 13, 2025

Multi-Modal Home Sleep Monitoring in Older Adults
Published on: January 26, 2019
Validation of the geriatric sleep questionnaire
Helena Espirito-Santo1, Diana Dias-Azedo2, Laura Lemos2
1Instituto Superior Miguel Torga, Coimbra, Portugal; Centro de Investigação em Neuropsicologia e Intervenção Cognitivo-Comportamental, Coimbra, Portugal.
The Geriatric Sleep Questionnaire (GSQ-6) is a reliable tool for assessing sleep quality in older adults. This brief questionnaire shows good psychometric properties for use in research and clinical settings.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Sleep Medicine
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Assessing sleep quality in older adults is crucial for identifying and managing sleep disorders.
- Subjective sleep quality is a key indicator of well-being in later life.
- Existing tools may not be optimally suited for the geriatric population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate the Geriatric Sleep Questionnaire (GSQ), a short instrument designed for assessing subjective sleep quality in older individuals.
- To evaluate the psychometric properties of the GSQ in a Portuguese sample of older adults.
Main Methods:
- The Geriatric Sleep Questionnaire (GSQ) was administered to 443 older adults (aged 65-100).
- Validation included reliability testing (Cronbach's alpha), factor validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and predictive power using ROC analysis.
- Statistical analyses assessed the instrument's ability to detect sleep problems.
Main Results:
- A six-item version (GSQ-6) demonstrated good reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.79) and adequate validity.
- ROC analysis indicated a sensitivity of 80.0% and specificity of 66.7% for detecting sleep problems (AUC = 0.72).
- Worse sleep quality was reported by individuals in social care, with low education, and residing in rural areas.
Conclusions:
- The GSQ-6 is a brief, psychometrically sound instrument for assessing subjective sleep quality in older adults.
- The GSQ-6 is a valuable tool for future research on sleep quality and its links to mental health and well-being in the elderly.
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