Validity of a novel excessive daytime sleepiness screening stool : the Yaounde Sleepiness Score.

AbstractO_ST_ABSStudy objectiveC_ST_ABSThis study aimed to assess the validity of the Yaounde Sleepiness Scale (YSS), a new tool for excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) screening, using Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) as reference. MethodologyA 6-item questionnaire was assessed for content validity (based on sleep physiology, face validity (by 4 sleep specialists), criterion and construct validity (in a cross-sectional study led in Lille University Hospital). For criterion validity, we used Pearson correlation, area under the receiver operator characteristics (AUROC) curve and a graphical method to find the YSS thresholds. We performed a simple linear regression to seek the association between YSS and EDS predictors for construct validity. ResultsA total of 566 patients (mean age = 53.1 {+/-} 14.6 years, female = 47%) were enrolled. The mean YSS and ESS were 9.8 {+/-} 4.7 and 9.1 {+/-} 5.3, respectively. The Pearson correlation between YSS and ESS was 0.74% (p<0.0001). The AUROC curves (95% confidence interval, 95CI) for ESS- based EDS and severe EDS prediction were 0.856 (0.829 - 0.889) and 0.871 (0.829 - 0.913), respectively. The YSS thresholds for EDS and severe EDS were 9 and 15, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of YSS were 92.3 (88.7 - 95.9)% and 60.6 (55.3 - 65.9)%. The YSS was positively associated with psychiatric conditions and psychotropic drugs use, and negatively with age. ConclusionWe found a good criterion validity of the YSS compared with ESS. This questionnaire could be proposed as an alternative to ESS.