Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire‚ Research Screen for Symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Other Sleep Disorders in Children

OVERVIEW

• Easy to implement and available to license for academic research, non-commercial use at no charge
• Contains some question-items that when extracted and combined, constitute two scorable scales with published validity

BACKGROUND

The Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) allows researchers or clinicians to screen children aged 2 to 18 years for a variety of common sleep symptoms, problems, and disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome. Sleep disorders are common but usually undiagnosed during childhood. Relatively limited education is provided during medical school on sleep disorders, and in some settings, sleep physicians, other sleep clinicians, and sleep laboratories experienced in assessment of children are not available.

INNOVATION

Researchers at the University of Michigan developed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) as a largely symptom-based inventory of items that can help alert researchers or clinicians to the presence of specific sleep problems. This instrument also contains two validated component scales: one for obstructive sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBDs) in children, and obstructive sleep apnea in particular, and another for restless legs/periodic leg movements (RLS/PLMS) in children. The PSQ-SRBD Scale contains validated subscales for obstructed breathing/snoring, sleepiness, and daytime disruptive behavior (the latter based on DSM-IV symptoms for inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive behavior).

The full PSQ and one-page PSQ-SRBD Scale (with component breathing/snoring, sleepiness, and behavior subscales) are available to license and use responsibly for academic research at no charge. Access to the PSQ-SRBD Scale scoring instructions and references are also made available online. Other question-items within the full PSQ -- aside from the SRBD and RLS/PLMS scales -- may be qualitatively informative but have not been formally scored or validated. Use of the full PSQ or the validated scales assembled from its question-items, in clinical practice or for individual patient care, should be undertaken only at the discretion and responsibility of the involved qualified clinician.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Note regarding translations listed for licensing and download:

The PSQ was published originally in English. The University of Michigan is not endorsing the translations provided for licensing and download, and the university has not validated the translations. The University of Michigan does not warrant these translations and is not responsible for inaccurate translations.