The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index mixes clock times, minutes, hours and rating scales. Getting the field types right on the eCRF is what makes the seven component scores computable, so this template uses time, number and single-choice fields exactly where the instrument needs them.
Free sandbox · No credit card · 21 CFR Part 11 aligned
Sleep quality · Month 1
During the past month:
Usual bedtime
Minutes to fall asleep
Usual getting-up time
Hours of actual sleep per night
PSQI at a glance
The instrument
Unlike most questionnaires, the PSQI is not scored by adding up items. Its answers are first combined into seven clinically meaningful components: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication and daytime dysfunction. Each component is scored 0 (no difficulty) to 3 (severe difficulty), and the components are then summed.
Some components use a single answer; others combine several. Sleep latency, for example, combines the minutes taken to fall asleep with how often the participant could not get to sleep within 30 minutes. Habitual sleep efficiency divides hours of actual sleep by hours spent in bed, calculated from the usual bedtime and getting-up time.
If bedtime is typed as free text ("around half eleven"), sleep efficiency cannot be computed and every record needs manual recoding. The template uses Capture's time question type for bedtime and getting-up time, number fields for minutes and hours with range checks, and single-choice fields for the frequency and rating questions. Everything the scoring algorithm needs arrives as structured data.
Capture also has a built-in calculator for minutes or hours between two date-times, which you can use if your protocol collects bedtime and wake time as full date-times (common in sleep diaries). For the PSQI's usual clock times, time in bed is derived in analysis along with the component scores.
Global score
9 / 21
Structure
| Component | Built from | eCRF field types |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Subjective sleep quality | Overall rating of sleep quality | Single choice |
| 2. Sleep latency | Minutes to fall asleep plus frequency of not sleeping within 30 minutes | Number (minutes), single choice |
| 3. Sleep duration | Hours of actual sleep | Number (hours, one decimal) |
| 4. Habitual sleep efficiency | Hours asleep divided by hours in bed | Time (bedtime, getting-up time), number |
| 5. Sleep disturbances | Frequency of nine disturbance reasons | Single choice per reason |
| 6. Use of sleeping medication | Frequency of medication use | Single choice |
| 7. Daytime dysfunction | Trouble staying awake and keeping up enthusiasm | Single choice |
Structure only. Obtain the PSQI, scoring instructions and permission from the University of Pittsburgh.
Data quality
A participant who reports 11 hours of sleep but 7 hours in bed, or 300 minutes to fall asleep, has usually mistyped. Range edit checks on minutes and hours raise an auto-query for the site to confirm with the participant, before the values reach a component score.
Edit checks / auto-queries
2Type
Range High
Operator
Greater than
Value
180
Priority: High
Type
Range Low
Operator
Less than
Value
80
Priority: Normal
Query raised automatically
Value 192 violates limit (180). Please verify.
Scheduling
Because the PSQI asks about the past month, give it no more often than monthly. Pair it with a nightly diary for week-by-week change, and a sleepiness scale for daytime impact.
| Assessment | BL | M1 | M2 | M3 | M6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSQI | |||||
| Epworth (ESS) | |||||
| Sleep diary | D | D | D | D | D |
D = daily morning diary
Test it with sample answers in the free sandbox before your ethics submission.
Data quality
On paper the PSQI is known for messy answers: ranges instead of numbers ("20 to 40 minutes"), times without AM or PM, and hours of sleep that exceed hours in bed. Each of those makes a component score uncomputable or wrong, and fixing them afterwards means asking participants to remember a month that has already passed.
Number fields accept one value, and the help text can ask participants to give their best estimate. That removes the "20 to 40" problem at source. Range checks then flag values that are implausible rather than impossible, so a site can confirm them with the participant.
Time fields store a 24-hour time, so an 11:30 bedtime cannot be confused with 11:30 in the morning. Participants who work nights or shifts need a note in the help text; some protocols exclude shift workers because the PSQI assumes a conventional night-time sleep period.
Hours of actual sleep should not exceed the time between usual bedtime and getting-up time. Check this during data review before lock, because a sleep efficiency above 100% will distort the component score and the global score with it.
Before go-live
Check the University of Pittsburgh's terms for your use and record licence details if one applies.
Time fields for clock times, number fields for minutes and hours, single choice for frequencies.
Minutes to fall asleep and hours of sleep checked for plausibility.
Keep or remove the five unscored questions to reduce burden.
Component derivations written into the statistical analysis plan.
No more often than the one-month recall allows.
Answers are combined into seven component scores, each 0 to 3, which are summed into a global score of 0 to 21.
A global score above 5 indicates poor sleep quality.
Hours of actual sleep divided by hours in bed (from usual bedtime to getting-up time), times 100. It is then scored as a component from 0 to 3.
The past month, so it should not be given more often than monthly.
No. The five questions for a bed partner or roommate provide clinical information but are not part of the global score.
It is copyrighted by the University of Pittsburgh. Check its terms for your use; commercial use generally needs a licence.
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Time fields, number fields and range checks, ready in minutes. Free sandbox.